Sometimes people ask, do I have to file a lawsuit against the doctor for the overdose death? Isn’t it better to settle with the doctor who caused the wrongful death of a patient? Don’t doctors want to settle lawsuits for wrongful death? If not, why don’t doctors settle overdose death lawsuits?

Practically speaking, here is what happens when a patient dies from a drug overdose. The family is questioning why the patient died. They request records and have the medical records reviewed by an overdose lawyer. Once the records are reviewed, if there is a claim for wrongful death, there are two options: file suit against the doctor who prescribed the medication that resulted in the overdose death or contact the physician who prescribed the medication that resulted in the overdose death. Sometimes there is not time to contact the physician before the statute of limitations runs. But even when the lawyer contacts the physician and asserts a claim against the doctor for the overdose death, almost every time, the physician refers the matter to his insurance carrier. The insurance carrier for the doctor has no incentive to “settle” a case or pay money before suit is filed. That is because if the patient’s family does not file a lawsuit for wrongful death for the overdose, the statute will run, and the insurance company does not have to pay anything. Have you ever had an experience with an insurance company, where they do not pay what they owe until they have to? Same thing happens when there is a patient’s death from methadone, or another drug overdose. So, most of the time, a lawyer must file suit in order to preserve the claim, so that negotiations can begin with the insurance company as a result of the wrongful death by overdose.

For additional information about drug overdose, in general, and drug overdoses in North Carolina, go to www.methadonelaw.com and www.overdoselaw.com

At Overdose Law, we often get questions from families from around the country, wanting to know what “.35 mg/L” means for a blood concentration of hydrocodone.

If you have a toxicology result that you would like to submit for interpretation, please email the lawyers at Overdose Law, and they can email you a chart that will help you understand what the numbers mean. www.overdoselaw.com

If you have a question about interpreting a toxicology report, and would like information about what a certain level of a drug means on a toxicology report, the lawyers at Overdose Law can email that information to you. www.overdoselaw.com

Most legal cases proceed through four stages. The first stage is the investigative stage. During this stage, in a drug overdose lawsuit, a good overdose lawyer gathers all medical, pharmacy, death, and personal records. The records are reviewed by lawyers, pharmacists, toxicologists, pharmacists, and any other persons the lawyer retains to advise her about the case.

If a physician prescribed too much oxycodone, OxyContin®, or Percocet to your family member, it may have resulted in an overdose, leading to death or a permanent injury, such as respiratory depression or brain damage. If you want to speak to a lawyer about your case, contact us at http://www.overdoselaw.com

Overdoses of alprazolam can be fatal. Most alprazolam deaths are associated with the concomitant use of other cns depressants, such as opiates, including methadone and OxyContin. Alprazolam is significantly more toxic in overdose than other benzodiazepines with higher rates of fatalities. A study in New Zealand found that alprazolam is almost 8 times more likely to result in death in overdose than other sedative hypnotics as a group, with higher rates of ICU admissions and mechanical ventilation. Combined use with tricyclic antidepressants, alcohol, or opiates increases the likelihood for severe toxicity and possible fatality.18-19

Morphine acts on the central nervous system, and overdose can cause respiratory depression, asphyxia and death. A person is especially at risk of death if morphine is administered with other opiates or CNS depressants, or with benzodiazepines, like alprazolam.

In June 2008, manufacturing errors may have led for this morphine to be distributed for consumption. Subsequent recalls were issued for additional lots of morphine and at least 30 other generic drugs manufactured by Ethex which may have contained up to twice the necessary amount of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.

In the last few years, there have been several reported cases of Darvocet® or propoxyphene toxicity deaths, as a result of giving a patient too much Darvocet® or administering Darvocet® with other drugs that cause toxicity. Often, when patients die from a Darvocet® overdose, they die within a few hours of taking the drug.