A pharmacist in Ohio is being criminally prosecuted in a medical mistake that resulted in a death of a two-year old child.
Is that going too far?
Indeed, if the criminal prosecution of this pharmacist is successful, it may lead to a dangerous precedent. Indeed, “he wasn’t drunk or impaired. He wasn’t even the one who prepared the mixture. He was inattentive and lazy and careless, and now he faces the real possibility of serving jail time as a consequence.”
Will doctors be next?
Thankfully, surgeon Jeffrey Parks thinks not. “Criminal prosecution of doctors will never be common, number one, because who the hell would ever go to medical school if there was a possibility you could not only get sued, but have to go to jail for an unintentional error . . . and number two, the trial lawyers would never allow it [since] in a criminal suit the State is the plaintiff and the purpose is punishment rather than compensation of the victim/trial lawyer.”
That said, the predicament of the cited Ohio pharmacist isn’t good. His license was revoked, and there’s the real possibility he’ll be a convicted felon. As Dr. Parks remarks, “He’s basically ruined. The tragic death of a toddler notwithstanding, I find such a predicament rather harsh.”
Related posts:
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- How difficult is it to measure medical errors?
- Medical errors: Impact on physicians
- Medical errors and patient responsibility
- An apology for medical errors, this lawyer says don’t do it
- Working harder won’t reduce medical errors
{ 13 comments }
Can I sue my mechanic and ten send him to jail becuase he made my car worse!!!
Ever heard of Libby Zion? They have tried criminal prosecution of the doctors responsible for her death in New York. They failed. However, that was at least 10 years ago and the public opinion tides are turning so you never know.
As for surgeon Parks – gross negligence is a crime in some states so the error does not need to be intentional.
Why do I have a feeling the verdict would have been different if it wasn’t an adorable toddler?
Why is anyone “thankful” to hear the opinions of someone not trained in the law on legal subjects? Dr. Parks clearly has no idea what he’s talking about. A civil action can be pursued regardless of a criminal action. The criminal action is pursued on behalf of society – ie the State. The civil action is pursued on behalf of specifically those harmed by the act.
Dr. Parks further seems shocked that the prosecutor makes the call as to whether the defendant is charged criminally. The prosecutor makes the call on whether almost all state criminal charges are filed. Why is he surprised?
Since he gives us few of the details of the case, it’s hard to know whether the pharmacist’s acts rose to the level required to obtain a criminal conviction, and a jury will ultimately decide. But if it was willful or wanton, why is a conviction any more unjust than a person who is drunk and negligently runs over a child?
John, it depends. If your mechanic, for example, forgot to put any oil back in your car after draining it, when he was contracted to changed the oil, heck yes you could sue for damages and win them.
I doubt, however, a prosecutor would pursue a case against your mechanic for damaging your car, absent doing so in furtherance of some illegal act, or damaging it willfully.
However, in the law, negligent homicide is a real crime. Any physician or health care provider is not immune from prosecution if victim dies as a result of a criminal negligence. It would be a high burden, but there are acts so negligent that death resulting from them, even when the physician did not intend to cause a death, where he might face prosecution.
When we become a civilization that prosecutes all mistakes, we have lost. I see, on a daily basis, people who were in car accidents, i.e. “made a mistake” who are arrested for murder. Most of them are horrified to begin with and this is not only unnecessary but rediculous. Who of you have not made an error driving, i.e. accidentally cut someone off, etc. If that resulted in a fatality accident, you could be charged or convicted of murder.
If we have even a few cases of physicians being convicted, the results for society will be devastating. Physicians are already precariously practicing. When you go to work every day knowing each and every decision you make could put your life and your family’s life at financial stake (often regardless of the correctness of your decisions: read lottery), that is too much to ask of these baseline perfectionists.
I appreciate the role lawyers have played in making our country a country of law paving a way for our amazing abundance, but this is going too far.
The fact that the pharmacist was inattentive, lazy, and careless without being drunk or otherwise impaired worries more more than if he were. He didn’t care enough about his job to follow protocol and caused a death of a child. It makes me wonder how many other times he decided not to follow protocol. I would like to see some justice here by sending him to jail and sending a message.
“When we become a civilization that prosecutes all mistakes, we have lost.”
That’s a total strawman. Criminally negligent homicide is not some new crime invented to persecute the good samaritan, and it is not a symptom of a changing society.
I don’t have facts enough to judge how well the prosecutor has employed his discretion, but from the information given, a detail stands out – the pharmacist was warned by the person who prepared the solution that it was not prepared properly, “there was something wrong with it”, and he sent it off to be used in full knowledge of the error in formulation, whether it killed anybody or not was of so little concern to him, that patients who rely upon his professional expertise died as a result of his lack of caring.
As a pharmacist he had to know that formulation errors can be fatal, and short of that, the formulation may not have the proper therapeutic affect, also placing patient’s in harm’s or even death’s way.
How egregious was his callous disreguard for the lives of the public? None of you has enough facts to determine it did not rise to the level of criminal negligence.
To be clear, the “prosecuting all mistakes” complaint is a straw argument. Some mistakes are not *all* mistakes. Not all mistakes are equal in consequences, not all are equal in their callous indifference to human life, or by persons with a duty to adhere to certain standards of carefulness.
“When you go to work every day knowing each and every decision you make could put your life and your family’s life at financial stake (often regardless of the correctness of your decisions: read lottery)”
If you go to work with that thought in the mind, then you have vastly overstated your risk and would do well to get a better understanding of it. You probably have more risk in driving your car to work each day than being bankrupted by a malpractice claim. Have you started taking the bus?
As for “lotteries”, show me a malpractice victim with a large verdict who is happy to have won that particular “lottery”.
the day a doctor gets jailed for a bad outcome is the day i stop seeing patients.
Paul, a bad outcome is a necessary but not sufficient cause to charge a physician with criminal negligence.
What if a doctor knows he is taking an improper shortcut that can kill? That’s a willful act, even if he is hoping no harm will result from it.
This pharmacist sent out an improperly prepared tx, and was warned by his subordinate that it was not properly mixed. It wasn’t a wasn’t mere “mistake”, It was a reckless chance with the life of another human being.
ur son was treated with propofol for a head injury. On the sixth day his kidneys failed and a doctor said he needed dialysis to correct the drug error. Another doctor above him said he didnt need it right away. They didnt take him off propofol till the next day. He died later from cardiac failure(PRIS). Dont you think the doctor who made the decision not to stop the propofol and declined the dialysis should be prosecuted for our son’s death?He was a anesthesilogist also.
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