Re: Is this Medical Malpractice??

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On 9/22/06, S. W. Sheridan wrote:
> My father passed away of a Massive Heart Attack in
> December of 2004. He had been taking high class narcotic
> medication for years and come to find out the drug store
> had been selling him almost 3 or 4 times the amount that
> he was prescribed to take every 30 days. His medicaid
> would not allow him to get his extra prescriptions filled
> but since he was paying cash for them they kept selling
> them to him. Finally his doctor found out and they cut him
> off. He started acting really weird and I had called 911.
> I begged the doctors to put him in a Detox center
> somewhere but they would not help, they actually gave him
> more pills. My Dad is dead now and I believe that had a
> heart attack because of the withdrawls from the narcotics
> he was taken off of. I have finally obtained a copy of his
> medication records from the Pharmacy now I need to know
> what to do. Thank you for any help that you could be to me.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Shaun Sheridan

Dear Shaun: First, I am so sorry for your loss.
The Pharmacy which supplied your father with these excess
medications would be liable for malpractice if they did so
without actual Dr.'s Orders (written, not oral orders, in the
case of certain 'Scheduled' narcotics-Percodan, Oxycontin,
etc.). However: even if they did receive such written
Orders, and saw they were from several different doctors, the
pharmacy has a duty to notice that the patient is getting
narcotic prescriptions from several sources and inform the
Patient that they cannot fill these 'duplicate' orders. That
is because the Pharmacist filling the orders has a duty to
know that a person cannot take more narcotics than are safe to
take. So: if your Dad was filling his prescriptions at the
same pharmacy, they would be liable for malpractice because
they knew or should have known (from their records) that your
Dad was getting 3 or 4 times what he should have been taking.

The Doctors ordering these medications would not be liable for
malpractice unless they knew that your Dad was 'prescription
shopping'. I do not mean to speak ill of your Dad, Shaun, but
if he did see different doctors and did not tell them that he
was seeing others, and having narcotics ordered from them,
then the doctors who ordered these painkillers for him did so
in 'good faith', meaning that they were unaware that he was
using them in excess.

Typically, when a patient pays for meds themselves, without
going through insurance or Medicare/Medicaid, it is much
harder for physicians to know they're prescribing narcotics
for a patient who has an addiction. No paper trail, you know?

Finally: you do not mention the condition for which your Dad
was originally being treated. When his Doctors found out
about his excess narcotic consumption, and cut down on same,
that was appropriate. If by 'acting weird' you mean your Dad
showed signs of withdrawal, then he should have been referred
to Detox unless he had an underlying condition which militated
against that. For example: you don't send a pt. to Detox if
they have a grave underlying illness which would become worse,
or cause death, did they undergo the stress of Detox. That
might be why your Dad's Doctors didn't completely 'cut him
off', but only reduced, his meds.

I hope this helps Shaun-Attorney/Nurse