Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in New York

Re: Could I Be Liable For Prescribing Narcotics???

As a physician you need to accept that you can be sued for anything at all, and if your patient is nuts enough, even if no good lawyer will take the case, he can find one that is not very good to give it a shot.

Liability for malpractice requires a deviation from an accepted standard of care that results in damage.

If when this patient came in he was oriented and functioning and was not apparently having problems, and if his symptoms and complaints were consistent with the underlying diagnosis, and given that there is a known, accepted, and specifically warned against risk of addiction with these medications, there is nearly no chance at all that such a lawsuit if filed would succeed.

Another major problem with such a case would be that the damages valuation will be minimal. So I, as a plaintiff's medical malpractice attorney, would never be interested in such a case even if you did commit wild malpractice in way over prescribing the meds if addiction was the only damage. On the other hand if you gave him so much that he killed his kidneys with it I might think longer before declining representation.

I work with medical practices including my father�s to help establish practices that can help insulate against liability. Tailoring specific written informed consent paper work and actual practice protocols that help to improve patient safety, minimize exposure, reduce malpractice premiums, and, as a result, help doctors wean themselves of off their ambien.