Roughly 20 years ago, a colleague of mine, a physician, was sued for prescribing narcotic pain meds to his patients, had to go to court, and the fiasco was turned into a circus. The people doing the litigation? Not the patient. It was the patient's family.
The basic situation? The physician was following the wishes of his patient who had terminal cancer and was within months of dying. Denying admission to any hospice type facility (as his family wanted), he wished to just be made comfortable and finish living his life, as it was, in his home. The physician, working with the man's oncologist, together assisted the patient in being made comfortable,....this did include narcotics, but also medications for his additional symptoms. The intention, purpose, and extent of their care was exclusively related to comfort levels, and patient-requested.
No waves were made until the patient died, and then the family brought on this lawsuit. There was no written proxy, nothing written giving any family member say over his treatment options and care. He was monitored and looked after at his home by nurses and other non-family caregivers, right to the end.
My point is, think of what a cluster-bomb this created, and why? For what purpose? It brought the patient's physician, (whom he had all his life) into the limelight of a rural area with newspaper headlines that were defamatory.
End of story, it was over quickly and the physician and his team won.
Sometimes doctors who have had "malpractice lawsuits" brought against them, may be deserving of a little investigative reading. I'm saddened that this patient's family felt the need to add such misery, and found so much energy to do this after losing a loved one to cancer.
Food for thought.
Sookie