The .Plan

This is a deeply disturbing news item:

The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that a doctor can be sued over a car accident caused by his patient, greatly expanding potential liability for the medical profession.

A divided court said that the mother of a boy who was hit by a car and died can sue the physician who prescribed numerous medications to the driver, including narcotics that can cause drowsiness. The mother’s lawyers alleged that the physician, Dr. Roland Florio, who practices in Brockton, failed to warn his patient, David Sacca, about the side effects of the medication and the potential danger of driving while taking them.

Sacca passed out and drove off the road March 22, 2002, hitting 10-year-old Kevin Coombes, who was standing on the sidewalk with a friend.

Justice Roderick L. Ireland, who wrote the lead opinion, compared a doctor who fails to warn a patient about a drug’s side effects that could endanger others to a bartender who serves a drunk customer…

[Dr. Dale Magee, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society] said it’s reasonable to require doctors to warn patients about common side effects of medications. But he said if doctors are required to relay a litany of possibilities and rare potential problems, they could scare off patients from taking their medications. “They may do more harm than good,” he said…

Two dissenting justices said they worried the ruling would drive up medical malpractice rates, among other concerns.

This “introduces a new audience to which the physician must attend — everyone who might come in contact with the patient,” wrote Justice Robert J. Cordy.
–Liz Kowalczyk, “SJC ruling adds to doctor liability”, Boston Globe, December 11, 2007