Doctor jailed for 30 years for overprescribing pain killers`

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Kakero: Emm..his prescription killed someone. You guys act as if he didn't do anything wrong and go gaga over it.

If he overprescribed a necessary medication, that is a professional mistake, not a criminal act with criminal INTENT.

Criminal intent was NEVER PROVEN by the prosecution, yet he's been handed this sentance.

A loss of his medical license would have been a huge punishment to a doctor, even if deservingly inept. In terms of preventing a person damaging society, removing their license satisfies that end. It's not like hes a violent criminal who will hurt people. Remove his ability to harm people by removing his license.

I mean what is legal punishment supposed to do? It's not supposed to be about "exacting vengance". It's not about restitution either. Other cultures have restitution, where a culprit pays restittion to a victims family. How does his jail sentance pay back socity or the victims family?

It does't.

But he doesn't need to be in jail for others to be protected from his future mistakes. The legal system is a joke and needs to be overhauled.

[Leonis]

Originally posted by Yorick: The legal system is a joke and needs to be overhauled.

Amen. Worldwide.

[robertthebard]

Evidently some kind of criminal intent was proven, for a jury to convict him. This was a jury situation, and two appeals courts reviewed the case and refused to hear it. There has to be a reason. The article I linked to doesn't provide in-depth details of testimony at the trial, and that is appropriate, those details should not just be released willy-nilly all over the internet. The fact is, we know very little about the actual occurences, or of other patients that this doctor had written prescriptions for, other than he was aggressive with his prescribing. I can't, and won't say that the sentence is good, bad or indifferent because I simply don't have enough facts. I can say that things like this are unfortunate, especially for people in my position, that could really use some kind of more aggressive treatment options, even if the aforementioned drugs aren't included. I am in a unique position to understand what it means to live in debilitating pain, I do it every day, but on the other hand, I wouldn't ask a doctor to put his life in jeopardy for me. Even if that's just his livelihood(?).

As a side note, the doctors are supposed to monitor levels of the drugs they prescribe when they are prescribing medications that are potentially harmful. If this doctor was following protocols, he would have known. This could have been enough evidence for a jury to convict him for that man's death.

[Kakero]

Originally posted by Yorick: quote: Originally posted by Kakero: Emm..his prescription killed someone. You guys act as if he didn't do anything wrong and go gaga over it.

If he overprescribed a necessary medication, that is a professional mistake, not a criminal act with criminal INTENT.

Criminal intent was NEVER PROVEN by the prosecution, yet he's been handed this sentance.

A loss of his medical license would have been a huge punishment to a doctor, even if deservingly inept. In terms of preventing a person damaging society, removing their license satisfies that end. It's not like hes a violent criminal who will hurt people. Remove his ability to harm people by removing his license.

I mean what is legal punishment supposed to do? It's not supposed to be about "exacting vengance". It's not about restitution either. Other cultures have restitution, where a culprit pays restittion to a victims family. How does his jail sentance pay back socity or the victims family?

It does't.

But he doesn't need to be in jail for others to be protected from his future mistakes. The legal system is a joke and needs to be overhauled. [/QUOTE]blablabla..Are you forgetting something? His what you term as "professional mistake" KILLED someone.

[The Merciful]

Originally posted by Kakero: blablabla..Are you forgetting something? His what you term as "professional mistake" KILLED someone.

Seems to me that someone killed himself.

[robertthebard]

No, all that person had to do was take the medication as prescribed. However, the doctor is supposed to be monitoring levels of the drug in his bloodstream, and one blood test would show that the levels were too high, and the doctor could have cut him off. However, we have no evidence one way or the other, except that a jury convicted him, and 2 appeals courts wouldn't hear it. This leans towards sufficient evidence to show that the doctor was at the least negligent, and that his negligence caused the patient's death. Evermore believe that an appeals court would overturn a bogus conviction. It saves on lawsuits filed from inside the prison that result in overturned convictions for one thing, and for another, it removes the "witch hunt" stigmata from these cases, where possible.