Doctors Need to Know Which Drugs Interact Dangerously
Drugs can treat illnesses because they chemically react with substances that are already present inside our bodies. If multiple drugs are present, they may amplify each other's effects, they may completely cancel each other out or they may create a completely unexpected effect.
If a doctor prescribes a drug and doesn't fully understand how it will interact with drugs the patient is already taking, then that doctor is putting the patient's life at risk. This can constitute medical negligence or medical malpractice, and our society does not tolerate it. Every year, dangerous drug interactions cause severe personal injuries and wrongful death to thousands of individuals nationwide.
Attorney Steven M. Watson in Omaha, Nebraska, has represented personal injury plaintiffs for almost 30 years. He brings the experience, trial skill and focus necessary to handle the complex litigation that arises when medicine intersects with law. To schedule a free consultation with Mr. Watson, call 402-492-9800 or contact our office online.
Different Ways Drugs Can Interact
It may not be difficult to predict how two drugs might react together in the human body. But many individuals have numerous prescriptions. It is extremely complex to predict how three, four, five or more drugs might react. However, there are only three main types of drug interactions:
- The Additive Effect: When the addition of one drug makes the other drug significantly more powerful. This can effectively cause an overdose.
- The Antagonistic Effect: When two drugs cancel each other out. This can completely negate the drugs' intended purpose.
- The Synergistic Effect: When two drugs interact to create a completely unpredictable effect. Often a reaction can form an entirely different chemical.
Your doctor should be able to recognize when your medications will interact dangerously. In all cases, the local pharmacy should act as the final "gatekeeper" to ensure that patients don't receive dangerous combinations of drugs.
Our law firm will examine the details of your case to find out if the doctor's or pharmacist's behavior truly constitutes medical malpractice. Our goal is to help our clients recover the compensation they need, and to help society hold doctors accountable for dangerous medical negligence and malpractice.
If you or a loved one suffered serious harm because of dangerous drug interactions, you can schedule a free consultation with lawyer Steven M. Watson today by calling 402-492-9800 or by contacting our office online.
