"I was catching up on my Wall Street Journal blog reading, when I came across a post about a physician who was sued for prescribing painkillers to a patient who proceeded to crash her car. The crash killed a pedestrian, and the victim's wife is now suing the driver's doctor. Obviously, this case sends chills down physician spines - as it seems that we are now held responsible for patient behavior outside of the the doctor-patient relationship or hospital setting."
Beyond the outrageousness of the case itself, is the sad subtext found in the comments section. Physician after physician respond that they are leaving medicine or have ceased clinical practice. They say that they'd never allow their children to become doctors, and that no amount of compensation is worth the risk and sacrifices of a career in medicine. It's really depressing to read about such low morale.
Original WSJ blog entry here.
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