Can a Doctor be sued for prescribing the wrong antibiotic?
I was prescribed an oral antibiotic for a severe post surgical infection, and a week later nearly died. According to the lab results and my research, it was not the official treatment.
Answers:
There is a difference between what is not the accepted treatment and what is not the usual treatment. You would need more information to verify that the medication prescribed was blatantly wrong treatment and for this reason malpractice in your specific case to determine whether or not you have a covering against the doctor. Source(s): RN
Chances are, your doctor knew more than either the textbooks or the lab at the time he wrote the prescription, but be still wrong. It happens all the time, and it would be an unusual case indeed if his choice be so far out of bounds that it would breach standard of care, which would be one of the necessary components of a successful suit.
Keep in mind that he have to make a choice days before he could get a culture report, so he wouldn't know the organism or its sensitivities to antibiotics. Also, beside MRSA and other such bugs about, local sensitivities vary quite widely, so his culture of local conditions would override any suggestions from another community. Finally, the in vitro and in vivo sensitivities are quite commonly different, so the fact that the lab report suggests one set of antibiotic sensitivities, that doesn't aways mean it's right and the doctor's wrong.
Of course, he might have made a completely boneheaded choice, and you may own grounds, but the chances are pretty remote. If you're really curious, you'll have to consult an attorney, who will consult an expert witness (physician) to give you an answer base on more specifics than you gave in your post. If your question is worth that much money to you, be in motion right ahead.
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Answers:
There is a difference between what is not the accepted treatment and what is not the usual treatment. You would need more information to verify that the medication prescribed was blatantly wrong treatment and for this reason malpractice in your specific case to determine whether or not you have a covering against the doctor. Source(s): RN
Chances are, your doctor knew more than either the textbooks or the lab at the time he wrote the prescription, but be still wrong. It happens all the time, and it would be an unusual case indeed if his choice be so far out of bounds that it would breach standard of care, which would be one of the necessary components of a successful suit.
Keep in mind that he have to make a choice days before he could get a culture report, so he wouldn't know the organism or its sensitivities to antibiotics. Also, beside MRSA and other such bugs about, local sensitivities vary quite widely, so his culture of local conditions would override any suggestions from another community. Finally, the in vitro and in vivo sensitivities are quite commonly different, so the fact that the lab report suggests one set of antibiotic sensitivities, that doesn't aways mean it's right and the doctor's wrong.
Of course, he might have made a completely boneheaded choice, and you may own grounds, but the chances are pretty remote. If you're really curious, you'll have to consult an attorney, who will consult an expert witness (physician) to give you an answer base on more specifics than you gave in your post. If your question is worth that much money to you, be in motion right ahead.
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