Pharmacist liability for suicide by drug overdose. 1983

D B Brushwood

Conditions that affect pharmacist liability for suicide by drug overdose are discussed. Traditionally, courts have refused to find liability on the part of a pharmacist who negligently dispenses medication to a patient who then commits suicide with the medication. The rationale has been that the act of suicide is not reasonably foreseeable to the pharmacist, and therefore it is an independent intervening act that breaks the chain of causation between the pharmacist's negligent act and the death of the patient. This legal precedent was followed in a recent case involving hospital pharmacists in Dallas, Texas. Analysis of the facts in the Dallas case shows that the pharmacists could reasonably have foreseen the patient's suicide, and the court's reliance on precedent might have been misplaced. This case and review exemplifies a pharmacolegal situation in which practitioners cannot strictly rely on reported case law to guide their actions. Pharmacies should develop policies and procedures to prevent patients from accumulating medications with which suicide can be consummated.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008318 Malpractice Failure of a professional person, a physician or lawyer, to render proper services through reprehensible ignorance or negligence or through criminal intent, especially when injury or loss follows. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed) Professional Negligence,Negligence,Negligence, Professional,Professional Negligences
D010607 Pharmacy Service, Hospital Hospital department responsible for the receiving, storing, and distribution of pharmaceutical supplies. Clinical Pharmacy Service,Hospital Pharmacy Service,Pharmacy Service, Clinical,Hospital Pharmaceutic Service,Hospital Pharmaceutical Service,Hospital Pharmacy Services,Pharmaceutic Service, Hospital,Pharmaceutical Service, Hospital,Service, Clinical Pharmacy,Service, Hospital Pharmaceutic,Service, Hospital Pharmaceutical,Service, Hospital Pharmacy,Clinical Pharmacy Services,Hospital Pharmaceutic Services,Hospital Pharmaceutical Services,Pharmaceutic Services, Hospital,Pharmaceutical Services, Hospital,Pharmacy Services, Clinical,Pharmacy Services, Hospital,Services, Clinical Pharmacy,Services, Hospital Pharmaceutic,Services, Hospital Pharmaceutical,Services, Hospital Pharmacy
D011041 Poisoning A condition or physical state produced by the ingestion, injection, inhalation of or exposure to a deleterious agent. Poisonings
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000092864 Suicide Prevention Specific strategies for averting suicides. These include mental HEALTH PROMOTION and monitoring PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING and other intervention programs targeting susceptible individuals. Suicide Awareness,Awareness, Suicide,Prevention, Suicide,Suicide Preventions
D013781 Texas State bounded on the north by Oklahoma, on the east by Arkansas and Louisiana, on the south by Mexico, and on the west by New Mexico.

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