We live in a society where just about everyone takes at least one prescription medication, often for conditions that could have been prevented through different lifestyle choices. It's probably no coincidence that we're regularly bombarded with flashy pharmaceutical ads on television, but America's obsession with prescriptions (The Medical News) may be a bigger concern than illicit drugs.
But when a cocktail of potentially dangerous drugs is prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacist, who's to blame?
One recent Illinois lawsuit alleges that a deadly combination of antidepressants, tranquilizers, painkillers, diuretics and antibiotics (14 drugs in all), negligently prescribed and carelessly filled, led to the death of a St. Clair County woman (The Madison St. Clair Record). Her estate is suing Dr. Tibor Kopjas, his physician's assistant and a pharmacist on wrongful death claims.
The article doesn't say anything about Lori Plumb's condition(s), but she was taking an odd assortant of pills: Darvocet, Tramadol, Remeron, Protax, Azithromycin, Busiprone, Cytomel, Alprazolam, Bumetanide, Triamterene, Mirtazapine, Fluoxetine, Levothyroxine and Lexapro.
Drugs often interact in ways that are greater (and potentially more dangerous) than the sum of their parts, and a physician has a duty to understand these interactions. The plaintiff's Illinois injury lawyer no doubt will have a field day with expert witnesses warning about the dangers of mixing so many pills.
If the pharmacist (Richard Sprehe) was simply following doctor's orders, then he wouldn't be a named defendant. But according to the suit, he "failed to distribute the proper amounts of medication and failed to fill a prescription order." She died from an overdose on Dec. 19, 2007.
Plumb was survived by her two children, both minors. Executor Ronald Plumb (perhaps her husband, but the article doesn't say) is seeking more than $550,000 in his 11-count suit.
- Michael Jackson Death: Drugs, Foul Play, Both? (FindLaw)
- CDC: Antidrepressants most prescribed drugs in U.S. (CNN)
- Pharmacists and medical malpractice (Health Grades)
- Harvard Suicide Victim's Father Sues School Over Prescriptions (Bloomberg)
- Responsible Parties in Medical Malpractice: Who Can Be Sued? (FindLaw)
