• 31
  • August
    2010

It's not the patient's job to know how drugs react at a chemical level and which prescriptions should not be mixed. We trust doctors to do this for us, while taking into account our best interests and well-being. When doctors stop paying attention, or stop caring about the potential effects of their actions, then things start to fall apart.

Sandra Smith knows this better than anyone. Her brother Mike passed away after being prescribed the dangerous drug "cocktail" of Xanax, hydrocodone and Soma for intense back pain. The doctor who oversaw the medical center where Mike was treated, Dr. Maurice S. Conte, had been under investigation for more than a year for dangerous drug practices.

She recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Conte, but remains upset with the Houston legal system that allowed Conte to continue practicing medicine.

In fact, Conte is still free to go about his life. He was forced to forfeit his medical license, but at 72 years old, he was most likely close to retirement anyway. As of now, no criminal charges have been pursued against him.

According to the Houston Chronicle, over the past 2.5 years "27 Houston-area doctors (have been) disciplined by the medical board for enterprises that authorities say resemble 'pill mills'."

Only eight of these doctors have been charged with any sort of crime. Even when doctors are brought to task, juries often seem to dismiss the charges out of hand. We want to trust doctors, but in some cases, do we trust them too much?

Source Article