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Prescription medications are still drugs, and many are derivatives of the same substances that produce dangerous street drugs like cocaine or heroin. Because of this, expert care and attention must be paid to how drugs are prescribed and administered to avoid overuse, addiction, abuse, and overdose.
If you or a loved one suffered an overdose and additional health complications because your doctor carelessly prescribed dangerous medication or failed to properly monitor the drug use, contact a lawyer today. Especially if you have lost a loved one to a drug overdose, you may be entitled to substantial financial compensation for the injuries and losses you and your family suffered. To schedule a free legal consultation with our Houston medication overdose attorneys, call The Queenan Law Firm today at (817) 476-1797.
Holding Doctors Responsible for Negligent Prescriptions Leading to Overdoses
Doctors are trained to understand the importance of prescribing drugs safely. Generally speaking, a doctor should weigh the risks and side-effects of a drug before prescribing it, and a drug should only be given to a patient if it is necessary to treat a condition. If the side-effects or risks of taking the drug are worse than the symptoms, drugs may be unnecessary.
The same calculus should come into play when making decisions about whether to prescribe prescription opioids. In the United States, the opioid crisis has claimed millions of victims because of doctors and pharmaceutical companies overproducing and overprescribing medication with a high risk of addiction and misuse. Unfortunately, many doctors overlook the risks of opioids, and many should be held liable for the effects of their negligent prescriptions.
Whenever your doctor provides you with medical care, their care is subject to certain standards. Usually, this “standard of care” is defined by looking at what a “reasonable” physician should do in the same situation. Victims of medical malpractice can bring medical experts to court to testify about the doctor’s performance and help you prove to a jury that their failure to properly monitor the patient’s prescriptions or weigh the risks of an overdose contributed to the death or injury.
A doctor can and should be held accountable for mistakes they make in giving large numbers of pills to a patient, especially if the patient is at risk for opioid misuse or abuse. In many cases, doctors will overprescribe, giving patients narcotic painkillers that might be unnecessary. Moreover, doctors often order large doses or allow patients to get enough drugs to last them a month or more. In many cases, putting that much of a drug in a patient’s hands is dangerous and falls below this standard of care. In many cases, the risks of drug misuse and overdose can be avoided by properly limiting the patient’s supply, monitoring their use, and warning them of the risks of addiction and dependence. If your doctor failed to do this, they may be liable for the subsequent overdose.
Filing a Lawsuit Against a Doctor for a Drug OD
In many cases, you can take a doctor to court if they were responsible for prescribing dangerous drugs. Filing a lawsuit against them can help you seek compensation to pay for medical care and treatment associated with your recovery. These damages can help you cover the cost of missed work in the aftermath of an overdose, ongoing medical care to deal with symptoms and injuries from the overdose, addiction treatment and prevention, or even the death of a loved one caused by an overdose.
When you sue a physician for errors and mistakes, their medical malpractice insurance typically provides them with an attorney and pays the damages associated with their case. That means that they will likely have a strong legal team defending them, and it is vital to use a strong legal team of your own. A lawyer experienced with medical malpractice cases in Texas can help you start your case on the right foot to get the compensation you deserve.
The process of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit begins with filing the case in court and serving the defendant with the proper paperwork. Your initial claim will include arguments as to how the doctor was responsible and what relief or damages you are seeking. The case will proceed through evidence discovery, where depositions and evidence gathering can help you build the case. The trial itself often takes only a few days, but trial may be unnecessary if you can settle the case and get damages without going to court. Your lawyer can help advise you on how your case will progress.
Suing Pharmaceutical Companies for Overdoses
In most cases, pharmaceutical companies are somewhat insulated from the individual consumer of the drug when it comes to cases of overdoses. In many states, including Texas, state attorney generals have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers for their role in pushing dangerous opioids into the public. While these lawsuits might help prevent future harm and help slow America’s dependence on prescription opioids, these lawsuits do not work to directly compensate the victims of overdoses or their families.
Generally, to sue a pharmaceutical company for an overdose, you would need to have evidence that they put improper warning labels on a drug, put the wrong label on the drugs, or produced a product that had mistakes or errors that made it more dangerous to use. If this happened in your case, you may be able to sue the drug manufacturer.
Call Our Houston Attorneys for Prescription Overdose Victims and Families
If you or a loved one suffered an overdose because a doctor overprescribed you dangerous drugs, contact The Queenan Law Firm today. Our Houston medication overdose attorneys represent victims and their families in lawsuits against negligent doctors and pharmaceutical companies that put patients at risk. For help seeking compensation for your harms or the death of a loved one, contact our lawyers today at (817) 476-1797.