A 45-year-old man visits his primary care physician for a routine check-up. The patient has a clearly documented severe anaphylactic allergy to penicillin in his electronic medical record. During the visit, the physician diagnoses the patient with a mild sinus infection and inadvertently prescribes oral amoxicillin. The prescription is sent electronically to the local pharmacy. Ten minutes later, the pharmacist reviews the order, notes the severe allergy, and immediately calls the physician. The physician acknowledges the mistake and changes the prescription to a macrolide antibiotic. The patient picks up the safe medication, fully recovers from the sinus infection, and never ingests the amoxicillin. Several weeks later, the patient learns about the initial prescribing error from the pharmacist and decides to sue the physician for medical malpractice. Which of the following is the most likely legal outcome of this lawsuit?
- AThe physician will be found liable because the initial prescription was a clear breach of the standard of care.
- BThe physician will be found liable because discussing the patient's allergy with the pharmacist breached patient confidentiality.
- The physician will not be found liable because the patient did not suffer any actual physical or financial damages.Answer
- DThe physician will be found liable because the potential for a severe allergic reaction legally constitutes a dangerous medical interaction.
- EThe physician will not be found liable because the pharmacist legally acted as the patient's surrogate decision-maker to refuse the medication.