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December 21, 2007Troubling Developments in Med Mal Lawsuits.The Massachusetts Supreme Court has held that doctors can be sued for "failing to warn patients about the side effects of the drugs they prescribe." Last week's decision sent a chill through physicians' offices across the country. It will increase malpractice insurance costs for doctors, which will likely decrease access to care for patients, medical law specialists predict. "I imagine courts and attorneys in states around the country will be watching the Massachusetts decision very carefully," said Reni Gertner, editor of the Massachusetts Medical Law Report. "Who knows how far it will go, but the pool of potential plaintiffs against physicians just got a lot bigger in this country." The case involved a 75-year-old man, David Sacca, who lost consciousness while driving and fatally struck a 10-year-old boy. Mr. Sacca's doctor, Roland Florio, told him he could resume driving after he had finished receiving treatments for lung cancer. The mother of the dead boy sued Dr. Florio for failing to warn Mr. Sacca about drowsiness and other possible side effects of the eight prescription drugs he was taking. The high court ruled 4 to 2 on Dec. 10 that Dr. Florio's responsibility as a physician extended to anyone who could be put at risk by his failure to warn a patient about the side effects of drugs. The justices overturned a lower-court decision that held doctors were not responsible for anyone other than their own patients. Read the whole thing. If this becomes a national trend, it will be bad news for patients and doctors alike. Most side effects on listed drug labels are quite rare; if doctors are held liable for explaining all of those risks to each and every patient they risk scaring patients away from drug treatment entirely, leading to poorer health outcomes from much more dangerous diseases like depression or diabetes. Posted by Paul Howard at December 21, 2007 11:39 AM CommentsAs a nurse, I totally agree that the Medical Doctor's should be responsible and explain about whatever drug they prescribe for a particular individuals medical problems or disease process. Usually it is up to the nurses to explain about the prescribed drugs, side effects, negative interactions with other medications, etc, which we always do. An M.D. should warn his patients about the side effects of the drugs he is prescribing to his patients.Personally I went to an Texas M. D. and he prescribed a medication for me for a bone infection that I was highly allergic to which almost cost me my life.M.D's should know the drugs they are prescribing and explain that particular prescribed drug to their patient.M.D's rarely fully explain drug interactions to patients and the warning signs. Posted by: KATHLEEN at December 22, 2007 01:50 PM Post a comment |
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