MAYBE WE SHOULD KILL ALL THE LAWYERS. A physician in South Carolina assaulted her son and attempted suicide. She was taking prescription for Effexor, an anti-depressant. She sued the pharmacy that filled her prescription, even though it was correctly filled. Her legal theory was that the pharmacy should be held strictly liable for properly filling the prescription, because the drug had an ill effect on her. The drug is approved by the FDA for this use, by the way. The court dismissed her case.
This is an example of suing in hopes to gain money when the resulting policy would be harmful. If a pharmacist is to be liable for a properly filled prescription, your pharmacist will not fill any prescription for you that has any risky side effects. The result would be that you could not get the drugs you needed for treatment because the pharmacist would protect himself.
This is an example of lawyers, and clients, willing to file a suit in hopes of making money even if the result is bad for everyone. Making money by making the rest of us miserable is a bad way to make money.
1 comment:
I trust that your suggestion of killing all lawyers is in jest. I think that the general disgust with silly lawsuits makes sense, but the case was dismissed. In any business or industry there will always be buffoons. In a testiment to the greatness of our legal system, we have trial and appellate judges to weed out unmeritorious claims, and if necessary sanction attorneys for professional misconduct.
-Publius
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