that's great. thanks. we need lots more peeps to join us! i'm not getting many answers to this thread!
I do like the idea, it's just hard to find someone here with the legal expertise to do this right, that's all.
Is someone here a paralegal maybe who knows of another lawyer who would be willing to "design" this initiative?
If not, how about writing a sincere letter (and I mean letter!) to Mr. Mesereau and ask him if he knows someone who could help with that...
You basically need a lawyer that is
a)willing to do this pro-bono (meaning without pay just because he is convinced of the cause) and has
b)experience in malpractice within the medical community.
It's a tall order, but again, it might be worthwhile to contact Mr. Mesereau and simply ask him if he knows of anyone in that particular field. He should have the contacts to at least guide you to someone who is experienced in that area.
A legal expert is also going to ask the following questions:
- What is the exact focus of Michael's Law?
Diprivan/Propofol at the time Michael's death was NOT a controlled substance- maybe this is a good starting point.
Should it be a controlled substance? Do we believe that Propofol being a controlled substance would curb potential abuse?
Should it become a controlled substance so that the group of those being able to aquire it would become smaller? Would this narrow down potential abuse?
What are we trying to enforce/outlaw? Off label use? (use of one medication for a purpose that it wasn't initially approved for?) Off label use is something very common in many medications and is a grey area.
Should the use of Propofol become unlawful outside of Hospital settings- or ORs only? You will run into situations where maybe someone's life has been saved by immediate sedation outside an OR- that is why you need a VERY tight legal focus of the campaign.
I personally believe it's a good starting point to think about the availabilty of such a powerful drug with such potential risks. Those administering it need to a field of experts- and they too need to be held to a high standard.
For example, I have had surgery with Propofol and several things were not quite the way intended. My anesthesiologist FORGOT to add the lidocaine that is intended to curb the burning sensation of the Propofol entering - and therefore my last memory before being knocked out was that of immense PAIN of the Propofol going in. I remember the guy standing there, me complaining that it really hurts and he just said "yeah, yeah, whatever"- pain is NOT a cool memory to have, believe me.
Here's an article that deals with the questions if or not Propofol should be a controlled substance. In my honest opinion the fact that something is a controlled substance isn't going to shield anyone who does decide to abuse it- but it would make the prosecution of those who use it carelessly and who ADMINISTER it to someone else without proper precautions a lot easier. Is "recreational" use abuse? Is the supposed statement of "insomnia treatment" an illegal off label use? Should a medical professional be held liable for administering a potentially deadly drug off label, outside of an OR (or at the very minimum Hospital setting) when he has the SUSPICION off dependency of the patient being tended to?
That's more rhetorical question but shows the many legal loopholes.
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/06/should-diprivan-propofol-be-a-controlled-substance/
