Why Doctors Prescribe Dangerous Drugs (And When It Becomes Malpractice) | Dr. Lawyer Breakdown Ep. 6

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.What do the fast-spoken side-effect warnings in prescription drug commercials actually mean, and why would a doctor prescribe a medication with potentially serious risks?In Part 2 of The Dr. Lawyer Breakdown’s discussion of boxed warnings, Bradford Keaty and Dr. Joseph Ramos examine how doctors and patients weigh the risks and benefits of medications, why serious side effects must be disclosed and when a failure to properly inform a patient may become medical malpractice.They discuss:How prescription drug commercials communicate serious medication risksWhy potentially dangerous medications may still provide important benefitsHow doctors evaluate risk versus benefit when treating cancer and other serious conditionsFluoroquinolone antibiotics and the risk of tendon injuriesWhy a patient’s occupation, lifestyle and medical history may affect the medication selectedA physician’s duty to explain risks and available alternativesHow emergency physicians treat unconscious patients who cannot provide informed consentWhy preserving life becomes the priority during an emergencyThe complications created by DNRs and advance medical directivesA real case involving an epidural injection, chemical meningitis, a seizure and a serious fallHow medical knowledge helped connect the patient’s injuries to the original car crashHow insurance policy limits and damages affect an injury claimSubscribe for more conversations where medicine and law intersect.