Can I sue for a doctor giving my wife an addictive pain medication and then trying to take her off cold turkey?
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Can I sue for a doctor giving my wife an addictive pain medication and then trying to take her off cold turkey?
They have been prescribing her methadone for pain for years. She has never tested positive for any other drug and functions fine on the methadone. They have decided that they don’t want to prescribe it any more and want to just take her off knowing that it would leave her in extreme pain, withdrawal, and if she isn’t strong enough might even kill her. She uses the medication for pain, has never shown to be using it for any other purposes, and follows there guidelines for testing for other drugs.
Asked on December 20, 2011 under Malpractice Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The question is whether doing this is against current acceptable medical practice/standards or not. That is the measure of malpractice--not whether or not it has a bad effect on the patient, since doctors cannot guarantee there will not be some bad effect, including pain, but whether the action fails to meet contemporary standards of what constitutes good medical care. Possibly the best thing to do is for your wife to consult with (get a second opinion) from another doctor or doctors--that will help make sure she's getting the right care and also give you some basis for understanding whether the first doctor's actions may have been malpractice.
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