Monday, March 16, 2015

Physician liability: When an overdose brings a lawsuit ■ Doctors often face blame after injuries and deaths by prescription drugs. But taking proactive steps can help spot risky situations and reduce liability. By ALICIA GALLEGOS — Posted March 4, 2013

The story sounded all too familiar to medical liability defense attorney Catherine J. Flynn. A patient taking prescription drugs had attempted suicide. The family blamed his physician.
The patient was on an antidepressant, and unbeknownst to his psychiatrist, he also was taking a narcotic prescribed by an orthopedist. In a drug-induced haze, the man threw himself down a flight of stairs, breaking his neck, said Flynn, chair of the Health Law Group at Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby LLP in New Jersey. Family members sued the psychiatrist for negligence, and the case later was settled. Attorneys and the doctor decided it was not worth going to trial, even though it wasn't determined that the doctor did anything wrong. more

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