MEDICO LEGAL M A G A Z I N E
THE PERILS OF PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION By Oliver Thorne
Oliver Thorne is Head of Clinical Negligence at Slee Blackwell Solicitors and specialises in Clinical Negligence claims.
Most of us have been to our GP at some point complaining of pain. It’s not uncommon – back pain or a persistent neck pain following a bad night’s sleep. The purpose of our GP visit is to hopefully find an answer to what is causing the pain and to make it go away. Most GPs will start by prescribing painkillers before undertaking further investigations to identify the cause of the pain. For some, however, the pain can persist and the root cause is not easily identifiable. For those patients, long-term painkillers are prescribed to enable them to function on a daily basis. These patients, however, can be easily forgotten about – they attend routinely to pick up a repeat prescription but are not always questioned on whether the pain is still present. Opiate based painkillers can be extremely addictive and when patients attempt to slowly withdraw their medication, some frightening side effects can ensue. These patients require slow, supervised withdrawal of these painkillers to avoid these side effects.
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Over the years I have dealt with numerous cases involving prescription medications – from gambling addictions as a result of Parkinson’s medication to those who have been given medication to alleviate pain. Recently I settled a case for a lady who was prescribed the benzodiazepine, clonazepam in the early 90’s for pain in her hip. She had 4 years previously undergone a release of the right fascia lata due to clicking hips. Her pain returned 4 years later and she was advised by a pain management consultant that she would probably need to take the drug for life as it allowed her to function on a daily basis. Her pain eventually disappeared and she tried to reduce the dose of the medication, but suffered bouts of anxiety and chronic bowel problems. She received very little help from her GP and the NHS in withdrawing from the drug. In 2003 she found a clinic in Salisbury where she went and was slowly weaned off the drug alongside
