Medical malpractice lawsuits against Pot Docs

[Pythagllio]

Has anyone ever known of one being filed? It recently struck me that I've never heard about one. The absence of such is a bit perplexing. It would seem to me on it's face that it would be a slam dunk for some ambulance chaser to find someone who had a less than optimal outcome with their treatment, after visiting one of the pot docs for a rec. Doctor recommended an illegal, unapproved untested drug and told the patient to use it, patient gets worse.

A couple of points:

1. There's no shortage of money hungry ambulance chasers.

2. The Pot docs have money.

3. It's really easy to blame it on pot. Seriously, anything that goes wrong in a potheads life is the fault of the pot smoking is a common enough attitude that lawyers inclined to file these suits could feel confident in getting at least a 'nuisance' settlement.

It's been 13 years, and there are hundreds of thousands of Prop 215 recs in CA, some for seriously ill people. There have to have been a few that took a turn for the worse, and that actually 'blame it on pot' themselves, don't there?

Yet nothing? No lawsuits? I can only come up with two possibilities. One is that these suits have been prosecuted but have garnered no media attention and were settled with a non-disclosure agreement. I find the possibility that such a suit being filed not making it into the media preposterous.

So that leaves me with one other possibility. That among the hundreds of thousands of Prop 215 recs there's never been a negative outcome, not even simply in some poor patient's mind. I find this possibility just slightly less preposterous than the first.

Any other ideas on why I haven't heard of any lawsuits filed? I find it doubtful that I've missed any as I spend hours and hours a week reading everything published in the media about cannabis. BTW it ain't the SCOTUS case that protects the docs right to make the rec. That doesn't convey immunity from civil prosecution. Even if you wanted to argue that it does I doubt it would stop a number of ambulance chasers from trying, it would just get it dismissed.

Is it frickin' possible that cannabis is actually 'without sin'? Shit I'm even ready to believe it.

 

[Pythagllio]

bump...nobody has heard of one? Not a single ambulance chaser in the entire state of CA has pursued this idea?

 

[Jalisco Kid]

My Dr does not say he recommends herb in my letter. He states he is willing to monitor me while I make the the decision to use it. JK

 

[Vespatian]

Yes, this is an interesting question. The notion never really occurred to me. Hard to believe that not a single alky ambulance chaser hasn’t tried this. Intuition tells me that if it hasn’t been tried, there must be a reason why, i.e., odds of success are very low.

You’d first obviously have to find someone who could demonstrate they suffered damage that could be attributed to mj. The plaintiff would also probably have to be a new user, someone who wasn’t a toker prior to the doc rec. Then of course a jury pool that would buy into it. And a lawyer willing to fund the case.

Starting to sound like there are better ways to chase a dirty buck, but still hard to believe nobody has ever tried.

 

[Ocean Grown]

Never mind.

 

[miltonchitlin]

Dr Todd was up in front of the medical board for writing recs. It was the feds first strategy to derail prop 215. There was no patient complaint. Doctors prescribe viagra like candy and nobody questions their standard of care. It ended up that a doctor has freedom of speech regarding recommending cannabis and that's the end of that strategy. Very rough time for Dr Mikuriya.

Assad well that's another story where he developed a relationship with a patient then when she called it off and was with some other male he approached her house with a large caliber hand gun.

 

[Pythagllio]

BTW it ain't the SCOTUS case that protects the docs right to make the rec. That doesn't convey immunity from civil prosecution. Even if you wanted to argue that it does I doubt it would stop a number of ambulance chasers from trying, it would just get it dismissed

reposted from the OP.

 

[quadracer]

reposted from the OP.

Why is the Supreme Court decision that protects a doctor/patient right for a recommendation not what protects a doctor/patient right for a recommendation?

Medical malpractice != Criminal penalities for writing a recommendation.

In civil court, doctors may have to be responsible for their mistakes/actions despite the absence of criminal prosecution.

But to answer your question, I haven't heard of any malpractice lawsuits against medical marijuana doctors. That's not to say they don't exist, or they won't exist...

Also, the case may be taken up with the Medical Board of whichever state, which may revoke a doctors license to practice.

 

[Pythagllio]

No, medical malpractice is a civil tort, not criminal.

Think of libel and slander, both actionable torts, one being the printed word, one being the spoken word, and last I checked the 1st amendment covered both.

 

[quadracer]

No, medical malpractice is a civil tort, not criminal.

Think of libel and slander, both actionable torts, one being the printed word, one being the spoken word, and last I checked the 1st amendment covered both.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[opt1c]

med records are private; how is a doc gonna be sued for malpractice? that's usually something that happens during the course of an operation. i don't think you can volunteer to use meds and then sue over it; your rec should say something like the dr talked about the risks with you; that there covers the bases.

 

[rambone]

Not everybody reacts well to the same medicine, I thought this had already been accepted within the medical community.