Addiction, Patient Rights and Lawsuits

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 | 0

The text of Nevada Senate Bill 75, authored by State Senator Tick Segerblom, is simple. Here it is in it's entirety:

1. Notwithstanding any provision of law, a person who suffers injuries as a result of an addiction to a prescription drug may bring and maintain an action for damages against:

a) The manufacturer of the prescription drug.
b) The provider of medical care who prescribed the prescription drug, if the provider of medical care knew or should have known of the person's addiction to the prescription drug.

2. A person who prevails in an action brought pursuant to this section may recover his or her actual damages, including, without limitation, any costs associated with rehabilitation for the addiction, attorney's fees and costs of any punitive damages that the facts may warrant.

3. [definitions]

That's it. Pretty straightforward. But at the same time, incredibly complicated.

To be clear, I'm in favor of the concept. Patients that suffer the consequences of iatrogenic disease (including addiction... perhaps especially addiction) should have recourse against the responsible physician. Addiction is a well-defined and legitimate diagnosis.  If a patient exhibits symptoms of addiction and the physician misses them or refuses to acknowledge them, that physician should bear responsibility for the consequences to the patient.

That said, such broad language as included in Senate Bill 75 leaves lots of unanswered questions. If the doctor is to blame, where does the liability of the drug manufacturer come into play? How does such legislative language align with work comp's exclusive remedy? What would passage of such a bill do to malpractice insurance? I'm sure the plaintiff's Bar loves this idea, but how do we separate the wheat from the chaff? (There will be no shortage of frivolous suits driven by this law). Plus the hundreds of other questions you're thinking of right now as you read this...

I'm not sure that Senate Bill 75 is the panacea some hope that it will be, but it's a bold suggestion in the face of a major public health issue.

Michael Gavin is chief strategy officer at Prium, a Tampa, Fla.-based managed-care provider. This column was reprinted with his permission from the firm's Evidence Based blog.