WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Who would have thought a Playboy
centerfold would be the poster girl for the mentally ill victims of
irresponsible doctors?
Not me. But two years after her death, Anna Nicole Smith could
change the way doctors prescribe psychiatric drugs in the United
States. How? A judge in Los Angeles ruled Oct. 30 that two doctors
charged with illegally prescribing drugs to Smith should stand
trial.
In his ruling, the judge found that Smith was a drug addict and
that there was an "ongoing and widespread effort" to obtain
medication for her. Smith's primary care doctor and her
psychiatrist face charges of prescribing controlled substances to
an addict, writing opiate prescriptions in a false name and
obtaining opiates by fraud.
Yes, there really is a law that prohibits doctors from
negligently prescribing controlled substances to a known addict.
Yet rarely are doctors charged or sued for malpractice even though
giving an addict like Smith a prescription for benzodiazepines,
such as Xanax, Valium or Klonopin, is like giving a flame thrower
to a pyromaniac and telling him not to play with fire. It is
irresponsible, negligent and criminal.
What matters in Smith's case is not the juicy testimony from
housekeepers or the all-you-can-eat prescription drug records, it
is the prosecutor who believes that doctors must be held
responsible for how and what they prescribe to addicts and
alcoholics.
That is progress -- huge progress. Regardless of whether these
doctors are convicted, doctors everywhere have been put on notice:
You will be charged with a crime if you recklessly prescribe these
kinds of medications to patients whom you know are addicts and
alcoholics.
But what about doctors who prescribe these drugs not knowing
whether the patient is an addict or alcoholic? Should they be
charged with a crime if it turns out the patient was an addict and
overdosed on the drugs prescribed by the doctor?
In many cases, yes. Of course the addict is also to blame. But
the addict is sick. Sometimes they are so sick that they do not
even know they are addicts.
That is why it is the doctor's responsibility to perform a
thorough substance abuse screening and history before writing a
prescription.
Hopefully some legal analyst on a pseudo-news program will raise
these issues. If not, perhaps it will be raised in another
high-profile case next year. Prosecutors are expected to announce
very soon whether they will charge Michael Jackson's doctor with
similar crimes.
Christine Stapleton writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail:
christine(underscore)stapleton@pbpost.com. To read previous
columns, go to PalmBeachPost.com/depression
c.2009 Cox Newspapers