Medico-legal Aspects of Pain Medicine

Deviation from an acceptable standard of care is one of the central issues in a lawyer’s mind in any malpractice lawsuit. However, the trigger for a lawsuit is the occurrence of a compli‐ cation. That is, intense scrutiny of a doctor’ practice usually only occurs once harm has occurred to a patient. Thus avoiding complications is the maxim to follow. Understanding the situations in which complications leading to law suits may arise is most important. Not all complications will lead to law suits depending on how they are handled and, for example non negligent complications and side-effects may be successfully defended if appropriately consented. The trend towards more accreditation may reduce rare but serious complications. Many Boards (in the USA) and Faculty of Pain Medicine (in the UK) amongst others and international organizations such as World Institute of Pain (WIP) have introduced standards of training in an attempt to reduce complications rates. If you are sued, remember no one is going to care more about the result than you do. Pick the best lawyer and experts to defend you.