Too many people are dying from prescription pain medications here in Indiana and Illinois. When are doctors going to be held liable for their actions?
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we know Illinois saw an increase of 33% in pain medication overdose deaths in 2017 alone while there was a similar jump of prescription opioid fatalities in Indiana of 28% last year.
Underreporting of Opioid Overdose Deaths
No one knows exactly how many people are dying in our part of the country from taking too many prescription pain medications. Coroners are not legally mandated with running a complete toxicology report when someone dies. It is only through a toxicology test that opioid overdose can be confirmed as the cause of death.
As a result, it is suggested that opioid overdoses are much more common than current studies are reporting. One study suggests that Indiana may have DOUBLE the number of opioid overdose deaths as are being currently reported in state statistics.
See, Geographic Variation in Opioid and Heroin Involved Drug Poisoning Mortality Rates, Ruhm, Christopher J., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 53 , Issue 6 , 745 – 753.
Recently, Indiana passed a new law to cope with the underreporting issue. See, “Indiana Legislature Passes Bill To Standardize Overdose Reporting,” written by Jake Harper and published in Side Effects on March 7, 2018.
Lawmakers in Illinois are pushing for better methods to track opioid overdose deaths, as well, with a standardized procedure for reporting all opioid deaths to the Illinois Department of Public Health and the General Assembly. See, “Lawmaker Wants Better Tracking of Opioid Deaths,” written by Mary Cullen and published by NPR on February 12, 2018.
Prescriptions for Pain
The purpose of pain medicine is to help relieve the pain experienced by a patient, such as an accident victim, after they have suffered bodily injuries or after they’ve gone through surgery to repair bodily harm. These are strong chemicals that under the law must be obtained only under the oversight of a health care provider, through written approval (prescription).
Legally, prescription pain medicines are provided to treat a medical problem. All too often, when someone dies from an overdose of a prescription pain medication, fingers are pointed at the victim. Perhaps they took too much, in violation of the doctor’s prescription. Maybe they got the pain medication from a friend, or a dealer. Or maybe they stole the opioids.
Based upon new research findings, the time for trying the victim in a prescription pain medication death may be changing. Considering new studies being released in the past few months, doctors who are responsible for those prescriptions may be facing higher civil and criminal accountability for their actions.
Pain Is a Public Health Issue
Studies show that over 100 Million adults in this country suffer from chronic pain. See, Institute of Medicine, “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research” (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 2011), p. 5.
A shocking number of us live our daily lives coping with pain. See, “Nearly 1 in 6 Working Americans Are in Pain Nearly Every Day,” written by Gillian Mohney and published in Healthline on August 10, 2017.
Relieving pain is a major concern for health providers. It is also big business for drug makers.
Dangers of Opioid Pain Medication
Today’s prescription pain medications are seriously strong chemicals, and they can be just as dangerous and deadly as heroin or cocaine.
Examples of dangerously potent pain medications include:
- Fentanyl
- Hydrocodone
- Oxycodone.
Doctors Are Paid to Prescribe Pain Medication
In an expose published in March 2018, CNN reported on the widespread practice of prescription drug manufacturers paying doctors to dispense their pain medications. See, “CNN Exclusive: The More Opioids Doctors Prescribe, The More Money They Make,” written by Story by Aaron Kessler, Elizabeth Cohen and Katherine Grise and published by CNN.com on March 12, 2018.
The report was compiled in a joint effort by CNN reporters and researchers at Harvard University. From their investigation, we learn that the more prescription pain medications are prescribed by a doctor, the more money he or she receives from that medication’s manufacturer.
It’s extremely lucrative. One example alone in this expose had a physician making more than $1 Million over 24 months from prescribing pain medications to patients.
Of course, direct kickbacks are illegal under federal and state law. Apparently, there are ways to jump this hurdle. In a study published in Journal of Internal Medicine, it seems that things like speaking fees and freebies (free meals) from the drug companies corresponded to some doctors prescribing the company’s opioid product.
See, “More Evidence Companies Pay Some Doctors To Prescribe Opioids,” written by Maggie Fox and published by NBCNews.com on May 14, 2018.
Liability for Doctors When Someone Dies From Opioid Overdose
Today, any doctor facing legalities as a result of pain medication prescriptions finds himself in a criminal courtroom to defend against criminal law prohibitions regarding these substances. For instance, Prince’s doctor recently settled with federal criminal charges of illegally prescribing the opioid pain medication fentanyl.
This does not mean that victims of prescription drug overdoses and their families may not have the right to pursue justice in a civil courtroom for civil injury damages.
When one considers that prescribing pain medication is considered a revenue stream for many physicians, while people are dying from pain medication overdoses, then clearly injustices exist.
Statistics are incomplete. No one knows the severity of this problem, and how many victims there may be of a doctor who chose profits over people.
Personal injury laws exist for the purpose of providing victims of another’s wrongdoing with legal claims to be made against the wrongdoer.
It is to be expected that there will be injury lawsuits filed against doctors in Indiana and Illinois and elsewhere in this country for injury as well as wrongful death damages based upon opioid prescription overdoses.
See, Suing Doctors for Pain Medication Overdoses: 2017 Opioid Crisis in Indiana and Illinois.
Pain medications are dangerous and can be lethal. If you or a loved one takes any kind of pain medication, beware of its risk of harm. Let’s be careful out there!
