A Nevada physician accused of over-prescribing pain killers has went on the attack against litigious patients and is suing the family of an overdose victim who was under his care. In a report for ProPublica, reporter Marshall Allen details a lawsuit filed by Dr. Kevin Buckwalter from Henderson, Nevada against the parents of one of his patients for filing an action against him after their daughter’s death. The lawsuit is unusual, and it represents a departure from the usual strategies that doctors take in the face of malpractice lawsuits.
From the story in ProPublica it is apparent that Dr. Buckwalter has a history of questionable behavior regarding narcotic prescriptions. At the same time, malpractice suits have become a serious issue in health care practice and budgeting, and many physicians are desperate for relief. It seems that Buckwalter is trying to find jury members sympathetic to the idea of run-away malpractice. If it works, it may unfortunately become a new tactic for bad doctors to evade responsibility for their misdeeds.
