What holds us back from sueing our prescribing physicians ???

  So I wanted to get a thread going to discuss and give our reasons for why me/you/we don't sue/bring malpractice suits against the physician who turned us into involuntary addicts. What are the pro's and con's, as well as any barriers/roadblocks that would stop us from being successful in our pursuit for justice.

 

I suggest that everyone follow the below format to make it easier for our cog fogged brain to keep it all straight.

 

Pro: .............................

 

Con's: ...........................

 

Barriers/roadblocks: ......................

 

So here is my input,

 

Pro's: Hopefully it would start to break the chain of DR's creating new involuntary addicts. I was talking to my doctor about how difficult it could be to get off of the benzo's and he was agreeing with me that it was a bitch, very hard. I then asked him if he still prescribed benzo's to which he replied, "yep, all the time" So he knows how bad they are but still prescribes them. WTF

 

      : It would be great to have some financial help so we could support ourselves and our families until we make it thru this ordeal and have time to learn new coping skills. It would also be great to be awarded financially for the pain and suffering we endure. I feel like I have already suffered enough for 3 lifetimes, and know I have to get through my taper and any protracted withdrawal I may have.

 

Cons: It just feels wrong suing my doctor  . I would rather sue the big pharma company. I think most DR's would not have time to see patients if they had to fully research every drug they write a RX for so they only know what the Pharmaceutical rep. tells them. On the other hand, the doctor is ultimately responsible for every RX they write!

 

      : In my case the DR who turned me into an involuntary addict is also doing my taper and I don't think he would be writing me any more RX's to support my taper if I sued him. 

 

Barriers/roadblocks: Hear in the US it's hard enough to find a benzo-wise doctor, It could be even harder to find a benzo-wise lawyer.

 

                          : How much would it cost or do you think you could find a lawyer to work on a contingency basis ?

 

Okay Buddies, your turn to be heard

Hairbear

There's a ton to be said here but I am just too tired to respond to all of your questions tonight. Perhaps tomorrow. But I will say one thing: Who would a jury believe? A well respected doctor or an addict and possible mental patient? The doctor merely has to say that "my patient suffers from a serious mental illness who is a drug addict as well." Doctors are all members of a huge club and no member will go against another doctor's testimony. Bets

Sadly, you've nailed it BG. And in my southern conservative state, an in-state doctor's expert testimony is required, at $500-1,000 per hour. Since the doctors in my state own the malpractice insurance company, any settlement would come from the insurance company that is partially owned by the testifying doctor.

 

Our best hope is 1. The Alzheimer's and dementia research that is getting spread around, 2. Any finding of permanent brain damage. (but we are not hoping for that !!!)

 

That second reason is why I am encouraging all of us to leave our brains to science, sadly, like the NFL players are doing.

Suing a doctor expensive, stressful and in this case you're very very unlikely to win.

 

Doctors routinely prescribe things which are much more dangerous than benzos; the calculus is risk of the drug intervention vs the risk of not doing anything.

This information is listed in a Canadian booklet being passed out to seniors to help them taper by themselves. I don't know why a sedative hypnotic highly addictive central nervous system depressant drug class has become the give to anybody for any reason drug.

 

I have a link to information that has countries warning about this since the 80s. Why did it happen to me in 2012? The world health organization published a pamphlet warning about the dangers of benzodiazepines in 1996. It was and still is a worldwide problem.

 

My reason to not proceed with legal options. My triple negative breast cancer has a survival rate of 40% at 5 years. I have already lost two of those years. I don't have the time or energy to be raging for months. I want to try to get happy again. My happy self died.

Hmmm. For a Junior Buddy's third post on this forum, I would have expected some questions about symptoms or tapering. It's not often we see someone march in and post a questionnaire for everyone to fill out - about suing their doctors. Actually, I don't believe I've ever seen that before. Very strange.

This information is listed in a Canadian booklet being passed out to seniors to help them taper by themselves. I don't know why a sedative hypnotic highly addictive central nervous system depressant drug class has become the give to anybody for any reason drug.

 

This is from the booklet:

 

5 fold higher risk of memory and concentration problems

4 fold increased risk of daytime fatigue

2 fold increased risk of falls and fractures (hip and wrist)

2 fold increased risk of having a motor vehicle accident while driving

Problems with urine loss.

I have a link to information that has countries warning about this since the 80s. Why did it happen to me in 2012? The world health organization published a pamphlet warning about the dangers of benzodiazepines in 1996. It was and still is a worldwide problem.

 

My reason to not proceed with legal options. My triple negative breast cancer has a survival rate of 40% at 5 years. I have already lost two of those years. I don't have the time or energy to be raging for months. I want to try to get happy again. My happy self died.

 

Me too.  I lost 30 years to these drugs.  Give me happy and I'm good to go. 

After my raw cold turkey experience i started filing a law suit with

two attorneys, who were interested. looked promising at the beginning,

now has come to a stage were its rather hopeless.

 

Big Pharma and Doctors are more powerful than the Mafia, little chance.

I tried to sue many years ago.  I saw a lawyer that specialised in this type of cases.

I was told I stood no chance of winning a case.

 

I don't think about it now, it's better to just get on with life and let the bitterness go.

I would love to sue.

 

At least to get Doctors to LET US KNOW WHAT THIS STUFF DOES TO YOU!!

 

They don't say anything.

 

They are handing Benzo out like candy. The bottles say 'take every 6 hours as needed!" They don't say HI, YOU WILL GET PHYSICALLY ADDICTED TO THIS PILL (whether you mean to or not) IN ABOUT 7-14DAYS! THEN YOU'RE IN HELL!.

 

I would like to sue to at least give them the motivation to warn us.

 

I got more 'warnings' when they gave me a f'in VIAGRA!!!

 

They say nothing about benzos.

 

I thought it was 'safe'.Thanks Doctors.Let's sue them for that.

Thank you all for your input. I've been coming here to Benzo Buddies for about 10 months now but never got around to registering as both of my main e-mail acct's have my name as my user ID. Well, I finally got around to creating a new e-mail acct. that is anonymous. So anyway I am truly desperate at this point. I went out on 90 days short term disability for mental health at the end of July 2013. I was so burnt out and I couldn't remember things and making mistakes at work. Somewhere in that 1st 90 days I discovered I had to get off benzo's. So my Doc put me out for another 3 months and I tried to get on Long Term Disability. Well my claim was denied. So now I am out of money and my daughter has a chronic disease and my wife can't do it all with her income. When my Dr. put me on Xanax 22 years ago I asked how long I would be on it and he said "Probably the rest of your life". Well, I guess not.... It's a hard pill to swallow that this has been done to us and their is no financial safety net to support us while we go thru our taper and protracted withdrawal syndrome. Nobody ever said life is fair!

early this year i talked to a reputable lawyer about if he could represent me against my doctor who started me on xanax ,  i repented after my dr. gave a very good SSI disability statement  i didnt persue making a lawsuit against him.

  So I wanted to get a thread going to discuss and give our reasons for why me/you/we don't sue/bring malpractice suits against the physician who turned us into involuntary addicts. What are the pro's and con's, as well as any barriers/roadblocks that would stop us from being successful in our pursuit for justice.

 

I suggest that everyone follow the below format to make it easier for our cog fogged brain to keep it all straight.

 

Pro: .............................

 

Con's: ...........................

 

Barriers/roadblocks: ......................

 

So here is my input,

 

Pro's: Hopefully it would start to break the chain of DR's creating new involuntary addicts. I was talking to my doctor about how difficult it could be to get off of the benzo's and he was agreeing with me that it was a bitch, very hard. I then asked him if he still prescribed benzo's to which he replied, "yep, all the time" So he knows how bad they are but still prescribes them. WTF

 

      : It would be great to have some financial help so we could support ourselves and our families until we make it thru this ordeal and have time to learn new coping skills. It would also be great to be awarded financially for the pain and suffering we endure. I feel like I have already suffered enough for 3 lifetimes, and know I have to get through my taper and any protracted withdrawal I may have.

 

Cons: It just feels wrong suing my doctor  . I would rather sue the big pharma company. I think most DR's would not have time to see patients if they had to fully research every drug they write a RX for so they only know what the Pharmaceutical rep. tells them. On the other hand, the doctor is ultimately responsible for every RX they write!

 

      : In my case the DR who turned me into an involuntary addict is also doing my taper and I don't think he would be writing me any more RX's to support my taper if I sued him. 

 

Barriers/roadblocks: Hear in the US it's hard enough to find a benzo-wise doctor, It could be even harder to find a benzo-wise lawyer.

 

                          : How much would it cost or do you think you could find a lawyer to work on a contingency basis ?

 

Okay Buddies, your turn to be heard

Hairbear

 

So what are you trying to sue for, exactly?

 

From your OP, you presented yourself to a Dr who prescribed you a legal schedule 4 drug (a benzo), for some reason - I don't know what - but you did, because you spoke with him about the difficulties of tapering off it, He told you it was difficult, And you decided, wirth his advice, to the the treatment.

Either I'm missing something, or you are....

It doesn't sound like  you have any reason to sue or get money. That's why people don't try, or don't succeed. I don't know why so many people think they are even in a position to sue, from a matter of principle. It is not malpractice  to prescribe a common legal drug for any reasonable treatment, esp when warnings are given, as in your case they were.

Why don't cancer patients sue because chemo made them lose their hair, or HIV patients sue because their life saving drugs (in that case)  damaged their liver??

Doh!

Suing a doctor expensive, stressful and in this case you're very very unlikely to win.

 

Doctors routinely prescribe things which are much more dangerous than benzos; the calculus is risk of the drug intervention vs the risk of not doing anything.

 

Yep 

 

 

So what are you trying to sue for, exactly?

 

From your OP, you presented yourself to a Dr who prescribed you a legal schedule 4 drug (a benzo), for some reason - I don't know what - but you did, because you spoke with him about the difficulties of tapering off it, He told you it was difficult, And you decided, wirth his advice, to the the treatment.

Either I'm missing something, or you are....

It doesn't sound like  you have any reason to sue or get money. That's why people don't try, or don't succeed. I don't know why so many people think they are even in a position to sue, from a matter of principle. It is not malpractice  to prescribe a common legal drug for any reasonable treatment, esp when warnings are given, as in your case they were.

Why don't cancer patients sue because chemo made them lose their hair, or HIV patients sue because their life saving drugs (in that case)  damaged their liver??

Doh!

 

torb ...  I've never heard of a doctor explaining the potential withdrawal problems. I don't think there are many who even know about them.

Got a call from the Risk Management flunky at one of the hospitals and cancer center.  They got together and decided their SOP of giving lorazepam without checking med list was just fine. I guess my life is just a trifling matter. This is the warning on Ativan from the FDA website.  My lungs still ache. They seem to disagree...

WARNINGS

Pre-existing depression may emerge or worsen during use of benzodiazepines including lorazepam. Lorazepam is not recommended for use in patients with a primary depressive disorder or psychosis.

Use of benzodiazepines, including lorazepam, both used alone and in combination with other CNS depressants, may lead to potentially fatal respiratory depression. (See PRECAUTIONS, Clinically Significant Drug Interactions)

In general, benzodiazepines should be prescribed for short periods only (e.g. 2- 4 weeks). Extension of the treatment period should not take place without reevaluation of the need for continued therapy. Continuous long-term use of product is not recommended. Withdrawal symptoms (e.g. rebound insomnia) can appear following cessation of recommended doses after as little as one week of therapy. Abrupt discontinuation of product should be avoided and a gradual dosage-tapering schedule followed after extended therapy.