One of the largest over-the-counter (and often over-the-Internet) markets in the world is for dietary supplements. Every day, consumers turn to dietary supplements to improve their lives. Body-builders seek to increase muscle-mass, the elderly (and some spouses) seek to improve memory and cognitive function and others seek to improve digestion or battle depression with supplements such as creatine, ginkgo biloba, probiotics, St. John’s Wort and Vitamin E.
There are far too many dietary supplements to list in this blog, but they all have one thing in common. Supplements can be potentially dangerous to a plaintiff’s case and beneficial to a defendant’s case if mixed with the wrong prescription medication.
In October the FDA issued a warning against mixing dietary supplements with medication. They warned that some dietary supplements (even “natural” and “herbal”) can adversely alter absorption, metabolism or excretion of a medication. The side-effects can be an increased or decreased effect of a medication, resulting in life-threatening outcomes – especially in children, pregnant or breast-feeding women or anyone about to undergo surgery.
All Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (plaintiff and defense) should educate attorney-clients about the importance of obtaining the plaintiff’s history of supplement ingestion along with history of prescription and over-the-counter medications. A defense legal nurse consultant can potentially use a plaintiff’s supplement history to defend a medical malpractice case. Comparative negligence can apply if a plaintiff fails to disclose a history of supplement ingestion to his physician. The defense may also be able to defend the causation element.
Alternatively, it’s arguable that a physician should review a patient’s supplement history before prescribing medications and warn of any adverse effects. After all, what consumer reads the little, tiny warnings that come with a prescription?
All Certified Legal Nurse Consultants should consider a plaintiff’s medication history to be incomplete if it doesn’t include a full disclosure of supplement ingestion.
I’m Just Sayin’
P.S. Comment and share whether or not you’ve seen patients experience side effects from supplements.
