Are doctors responsible, or negligent, for prescribing large quantities of medication for patients in need? A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by a suicide victim’s twin sister will address this issue. While this is not a Pennsylvania case, the decision may affect future medical malpractice and hospital negligence legal actions.
A Navy vet, the victim had tried to end her life three previous times in the past eight months by taking large quantities of the prescribed antipsychotic drug, but none of the prior doses proved to be fatal. However, on Veterans Day 2010, the vet was able to ingest sufficient quantities of the prescription drug to end her life.
Another example of the sometimes unique bond between identical twins, the vet’s sister was so sure her twin was dead, she called police on the way to her sibling’s home. Police found the 37-year old victim before her twin arrived.
The lawsuit filed against the Hampton VA Medical Center alleges that her doctor was at fault for prescribing a 120-day supply of the drug to a psychotic patient who had tried on multiple occasions to kill herself. Normally, the medication is not considered to be lethal and was successful in treating the woman’s psychosis, when taken as directed.
The surviving twin is not directly disputing the drug’s benefits. However, she alleges that, since the U.S Food and Drug Administration identifies that side effects can include “suicidal thoughts,” the doctors at the VA hospital should have known better than to prescribe such a large supply. Government attorneys take the position that there was greater risk, if the patient had run out of the medication, which would have heightened her depression and paranoia.
The twin sisters served in the Navy together as hospital corpsmen, leaving the military in 1997, after six years of service. The deceased sister was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, for which she had been treated by VA doctors since her discharge.
How do you view this case? Do you think that there was anything the doctors could have done to keep the vet alive? Or do you believe her apparent focus on committing suicide would have achieved the same result, regardless of the prescription?
Source: Source: The Virginian-Pilot, “After Navy vet’s suicide, sister sues VA hospital,” Bill Sizemore, Nov. 13, 2012