Doctors across the United States are facing growing accusations of medical malpractice related to prescriptions. Prescription painkillers accounted for 13,800 fatal overdoses in the United States in 2006: three times the amount recorded in 1999. While only about two dozen medical malpractice suits were filed against US doctors between 1981 and 2001, that number nearly doubled in the next ten years. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration reports that there were 15 physician arrests ending in conviction in 2003, and in 2008 there were 43 such cases.
The majority of recent cases relate to over-prescription of controlled substances, and while the abuse of prescription drugs is illegal, it is far more efficient and effective to persecute the doctors at fault, rather than chasing the patients. Under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, prosecutors must be able to prove that the physician intentionally provided a prescription that was excessive, apart from routine medical practices, or not for a purpose deemed to be legitimate.
One of the most widely publicized medical malpractice suits related to prescription drugs is that against Conrad Murray, singer Michael Jackson’s physician. Murray prescribed Propofol, an anaesthetic, to Jackson, and it was determined to be related to Jackson’s death. It has not yet been shown whether Murray administered the fatal dose to Jackson in his home, or whether Jackson himself took too much of the intravenous drug, as Murray may allege. Propofol is not a controlled substance, so the Jackson case is an unusual one. Doctors are not usually charged criminally for issues of medical malpractice, and the American Medical Association opposes criminalizing malpractice. If convicted of gross negligence, Murray could serve four years in prison. In order to do so, prosecutors must prove that Murray behaved outside of normal medical practices. Jackson’s father has also pressed a wrongful death suit against the doctor.
Florida is one of the largest centers of conviction for these cases. The DEA says about 12 percent of its convictions against doctors occurred in the state of Florida. State Attorney General Pam Bondi calls Florida the “epicenter” of prescription drug abuse, and the state has enacted a new law stating that doctors cannot dispense pills in clinics. Georgia is practicing similar laws. However, the west is not free from blame: in Southern California, Dr. Tyron Reece has been accused of distributing 900,000 prescription pills in the year 2010.
One of the extreme difficulties with prescription painkillers is that doctors obviously cannot experience a patient’s pain; all they can do is listen, and they must believe the patient’s claim. University of Maryland law professor Diane Hoffmann had this to say:
“Doctors are not supposed to be law enforcement agents. They’re supposed to believe their patients.”
The rise in medical malpractice suits means doctors are being much more cautious with their prescription pads, which could be detrimental to the well-being of their patients. A fear of prescription abuse or misuse in some patients could lead to doctors being too cautious to prescribe controlled substances even when they are necessary, opting to alter their medical process in order to avoid possible lawsuits.
