Prescription Drugs, Like Illegal Counterparts, Dangerous

So, let's say prescription drugs lead an individual to do things he or she normally wouldn't do -- like committing murder. Should the doctor be held liable?

A Utah Supreme Court ruling this week increases that possiblity, as the case in question was for a person using standard dosages, as opposed to being given too much. David Ragsdale killed his wife in a church parking lot in 2008. "I want you to know," Ragsdale said at his sentencing, "that I am confident I would not have taken Kristy's life had I not been on the medications I was on. But, that being said, I take full responsibility for my actions."

Just as illegal drugs might at times lead a person to do things they normally wouldn't, including murder, so do legal drugs. It makes an argument that we should look at our legal drugs, and not prescribe them unnecessarily. Along with fighting illegal drugs, we should also fight the overuse of prescription drugs, for they, too, can be harmful.

Do I like it that this case could put a scare into doctors, prompting them to think twice before prescribing medications? I have mixed feelings. We are too much a litiguous society, already. And, I read a statement from the Utah Medical Association spokesperson saying the new court ruling could lead to the loss of medication for many who need it and for whom it works well. A regimen that has been helpful to many, might be lost because of the reaction of just one patient, said Mark Fotheringham of the UMA.

But, I also think of the doctors who prescribe medication not because they know the patient needs it, but just to ensure the patient doesn't complain about not getting it. I think of a visit I had to the hospital last year, and how I was prescribed Oxycodone even though I had no pain at all.