malpractice?, or pill company, and do what are our chances?

What is the name of your state? Pa

It starts off as my brother in law had surgury on a torn ligament 2 1/2 years ago and the doctor prescribed oxcycotin after it and has been prescribing it to him ever since. He became addicted and lost a really good job because of it, then he lost his girlfriend and his house, then was in an accident, when he was hurt very badly. At this time his brother realized what was going on and called the doctor and the secretary answered and told her that he is addicted and shooting the medicine interveinously. she said that "she 's appalled" and that he would never be getting any pills from there ever again. Then he went to jail for forging a prescription, since the pharmacist thought that he has been in there way to many times to have these many prescriptions. He was found not guilty since they were legal. But after spending he was off the medication. He went back to the doctor after he got out and he gave him another prescription. he went home last night and used the needle again. And this morning his mother found him in bed, past away. Now I would say that this doctor needs to be held accountable. Right? I mean this long on a med that obviously is so addictive and to give him the highest dose available , the doctor had to know. Also by the time of his death, he has lost a lot of weight, was only like 90 lbs. This is not the first time around here and this doctor has been prescribing this to a lot of people. One time the patient even said, you will never get this doctor from giving me these pills. We have an agreement, as long as I go to him for everything, he will keep me in a lifetime supply.

It is not about the money, This doctor needs to loose his license. He is just a legal drug dealer, dealing people there death.

[vrzirn]

These are serious allegations. If they are "proved" to be true after an investigation then certainly there should be some punishment meted out to the doctor.
However, this is not a "wrongful death" action. No one forced your brother-in-law to take those drugs. He chose to. Help is available for people who truly wish to kick their habits. He did not.

First, my condolences to your family. Second, I am appalled at the insensitivity expressed by Vzrirn. It is very easy to say that a person who is addicted knows what they are doing and if they really wanted help they would get it. It is painfully obvious to me that this person knows nothing about the mindset of an addict. I will not use this forum to lecture but do ask the "experts" to please only dispense advise on what they know, ie: the law, and avoid commenting on the state of mind of people in need.

[ellencee]

punky, punky, punky--you did exactly what you chided against.
Look up what percentage of Americans have addictive diseases of medication or drug abuse nature. That's the percentage of drug addicted patients, or clients, that vrzirn and I have had. Do you have an equal number of drug addicted contacts? I think not.
He was right--totally and absolutely right.
This ridiculous craze about oxycontin is press hype and nothing more, well--ok--press hype and lawsuit happy attorneys and their clients.
Oxycontin is PERCODAN!! Ever heard of the 60s and the 70s? Percodan was a much sought after drug.
Heck, they gave to stuff to me after surgery in 1984 and I saved some for when I wanted a little extra energy! I told my doctor to NEVER give me anymore--the darn stuff was great; and I'm no where near an addict.
Lots of things are addictive and the responsibilty to not become addicted lies with the individual. Think about it--TV is addictive; sex is addictive; food is addictive; gambling is addictive; this forum is addictive--everything but self control and self responsibility is addictive.
Leighannd's brother-in-law caused his own death. It's sad; it's really sad beyond belief; but, it's also true.
His family and his friends must come to terms with this if they intend to make it safely through this grief process. It's OK for them to be angry. That anger needs to be directed at the person responsible; and that is the brother-in-law. They need to forgive him and not look for others to blame.
I read your profile and my heart aches for you no matter what circumstance brought about your husband's death. It is a pain that I do not wish to understand, but came close to having the opportunity to understand just 2 weeks ago this Saturday.
Best wishes.

I don't know if this will help the opinion of people, but this has become more than people having control. If you take the time to read, you will see that the company didn't provice all the warnings against this drug and its addictiveness.

[url]www.mapinc.org//drugnews/v01/n1382/a08.html?1568[/url]

The percodan, yes I understand it is addictive, but, oxcy's are 10 times more powerfull than all those others. Once you take them, your body wants them, they alter your brain, make you feel like any tolerable pain you have is horrific and shouldn't be being prescribed for common illness. and definately not for that long of a time, with doses only gettin higher, not lower and weining off of the drug. His doctor also prescribed him xanax, which if you read the article, you would have read that that is a lethal dose itself. I would rather see this doctor pay by fines, license or other ways first than seeing any money, he sees 100s of other people, and children too. Who knows how many people he is doing this too. And it is not right. The reason why i came here is to find out what our legal rights are and what his responcibilities were. Not to get rich.

[stephenk]

then file a complaint with your state's medical board. Filing a civil lawsuit is only about getting money. If you dont want any money recovery, make sure the state revokes the doctor's license. Report your suspicions to the police department. They may already have info on the doctor and his easy prescription pad.