More Doctors Facing Legal Charges As US Drug Deaths Now Outnumber Traffic Deaths
More Doctors Facing Legal Charges As US Drug Deaths Now Outnumber Traffic Deaths
Fueled by an alarming spike in prescription drug overdoses, drug deaths are now greater than traffic related deaths in the United States. This is the first time that drugs have accounted for more fatalities than traffic accidents since the government started tracking drug-induced deaths in 1979.
According to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 37,495 drug related fatalities totaled 37,485 in 2009. From 1999 through 2006, fatal overdoses from prescription drugs more than tripled to 13,800, according to the CDC. The death toll has doubled in the last decade, now claiming a life every 14 minutes.
Medical and legal authorities attribute the rise to the explosive increase in prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are addictive, potent and can be incredibly dangerous when used with alcohol or other drugs. Drugs like these are now responsible for more deaths than cocaine and heroin combined. Public health officials have been trying to draw attention to the nation's prescription drug problem, which some are now calling an epidemic.
Due to this alarming trend, there have been a spate of lawsuits filed on behalf of the loved ones and families that have died due to the fatal overdoses. Consequently, more medical professionals are being scrutinized and in some cases criminal and civil charges are being filed. One of the most famous incidents involves the late pop star Michael Jackson, whose doctor has been accused of being negligently involved with Jackson's death. Michael Jackson's father has filed a wrongful death lawsuit allegedly claiming that the doctor breached the standard of care when he administered an anesthetic to Jackson at his home and that the gross negligence caused the singer's death.
A recent, less public, case involves a medical malpractice lawsuit in West Virginia. A woman and her wrongful death lawyers have filed suit against a hospital and three of its doctors after her husband died due to a drug overdose. According to the lawsuit, Joseph Connolly passed away in 2009 after accidentally being given after methadone, a powerful synthetic painkiller.
If a doctor or medical professional violates the duty to care for patients and is involved in medical negligence, there are legal remedies that the patient of their family can employ.
Contributing writer Emery Brett Ledger is a nationally recognized Personal Injury Attorney.
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