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Q: Some patients have unforeseen reactions to vaccinations or other treatments and medications. Can I be held liable if a patient leaves my office, experiences an adverse reaction, and gets into an automobile accident? A: Yes, if the third party can prove that you should have been aware of the potential adverse reaction. In general, you have a responsibility only to your own patient, to advise about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to receiving or refusing medical treatments. This includes mentioning possible complications and standard side effects of any medication. However, you aren't required to discuss rare or unlikely risks. In some instances, you may have an obligation to a third party. For example, you have a duty to warn others in danger from a mentally unstable patient who's made a threat, even though you'd be violating the patient's confidentiality. And you may have a duty to warn others when treating patients with communicable or contagious diseases. You might also be liable to a third party who's injured in a car accident with a patient. In a recent Indiana case, a physician gave a patient a series of vaccinations. The patient lost consciousness twice while at the doctor's office. He blacked out again while driving home, colliding with another car and seriously injuring the driver. That driver sued the physician, arguing that he was negligent in failing to monitor the patient, and for not warning him against driving so soon after losing consciousness. A trial court and appellate court dismissed the case, ruling that the doctor didn't owe any duty of care to the injured third party. The Indiana Supreme Court, however, reinstated the lawsuit, saying the doctor had a duty to take reasonable precautions to monitor and warn his patient following the vaccinations. The injury to the other motorist was reasonably foreseeable since it was alleged that the doctor personally knew the patient had blacked out twice following the vaccinations, the court held. Would a reasonably prudent person in similar circumstances have permitted this patient to drive himself home? The court said No. This is an evolving area of the law, and courts have come down on both sides of the issue. For instance, a New York court held that a doctor who told a patient that she could drive after taking a medication with a sedative effect couldn't be held liable for injuries to third parties when the patient lost consciousness while driving. The court reasoned that the physician didn't have the ability to control the patient's conduct. It's best to warn patients about driving or other activities if you think there's a foreseeable risk of harm to third parties. Document your warning in the patient's chart. Lee Johnson has twenty-five years of experience in healthcare law, risk management, claims management, risk malpractice defense litigation and general counsel advice to hospitals and other health care providers. She lectures to physicians, hospitals, bar associations and medical societies; produces internet programs, self-study programs, videos and audiotapes on risk management and the defense of medical malpractice litigation; and writes numerous articles, pamphlets and books on risk management topics. She is a contributor on risk management for Medical Economics magazine. You can learn about her at website. Occ. Med. Central is growing every day. There is so much useful information on the web there is no way we can know nor find it all. That's where you come in. Don't feel limited by our current category list. If you find the item useful, then your colleagues will want to know about it. Click on the "Contribute" button to send us your contribution.  |