North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates
In recent months, the nation has finally begun to accept that we Americans have a very serious problem with opioid painkillers. The issue arose a number of years ago, but only recently has public opinion finally caught up with the heartbreak that thousands of individuals experience every day, as they wrestle with opioid addiction.
When one hears stories of the scores of individuals throughout the country whose lives crumbled around them because of opioid painkillers, it is easy to assume, “That’s something that happens to other people, it would never happen to me!” Unfortunately, many of those who suffer the greatest in this epidemic thought exactly the same thing.
Many victims had no problems with addiction, until some medical issue sent them to a doctor who prescribed them opioid painkillers. Now, otherwise healthy, responsible people are struggling every day to keep their lives from falling apart because of a physical addiction they incurred by following medical advice.
How could this have happened to me?
It usually begins simply. A patient has a surgery or some other very painful experience and seeks help from their doctor. The doctor prescribes opioid painkillers, but is not careful enough with the dosage or the instructions about how to use the prescription safely. Soon, the patient has a physiological addiction that is stronger than anything he or she has ever experienced, and it begins to take over.
If you believe that your doctor’s negligent prescription led to your opioid addiction, you may have more options than you realize. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can examine the details of your struggle with opioids and determine if you have grounds for a lawsuit. If so, you can create a personalized strategy to pursue fair compensation for not only your medical expenses and any income lost because of your ordeal, but for your suffering. An attorney also ensures that you keep your rights and privileges protected as you fight for justice.
Determining malpractice in prescription matters
In order to mount a strong medical malpractice lawsuit involving a prescription issue, you must demonstrate that your doctor acted with negligence at some point in the prescription process. This might include:
- The dosage of the prescription is too high
- The frequency of the prescription is too great
- The doctor did not take into account a statement about your predisposition to addiction
If your doctor acted negligently, then you may have a strong case that your addiction arose because of that negligence.
However you choose to proceed, please understand that you are not alone. Thousands of people of every walk of life struggle every day to overcome opioid addictions they did not ask for.