What do the fast-spoken side-effect warnings in prescription drug commercials actually mean, and why would a doctor prescribe a medication with potentially serious risks?

In Part 2 of The Dr. Lawyer Breakdown’s discussion of boxed warnings, Bradford Keaty and Dr. Joseph Ramos examine how doctors and patients weigh the risks and benefits of medications, why serious side effects must be disclosed and when a failure to properly inform a patient may become medical malpractice.

They discuss:

• How prescription drug commercials communicate serious medication risks
• Why potentially dangerous medications may still provide important benefits
• How doctors evaluate risk versus benefit when treating cancer and other serious conditions
• Fluoroquinolone antibiotics and the risk of tendon injuries
• Why a patient’s occupation, lifestyle and medical history may affect the medication selected
• A physician’s duty to explain risks and available alternatives
• How emergency physicians treat unconscious patients who cannot provide informed consent
• Why preserving life becomes the priority during an emergency
• The complications created by DNRs and advance medical directives
• A real case involving an epidural injection, chemical meningitis, a seizure and a serious fall
• How medical knowledge helped connect the patient’s injuries to the original car crash
• How insurance policy limits and damages affect an injury claim

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