Hooks Super X Inc. v. McLauglin
The Hooks SuperX, Inc. v. McLaughlin took place in the Supreme Court of Indiana on November 9, 1994. Patrick McLaughlin injured his back while working as a lumberjack in Washington State. He became addicted to propoxyphene while being treated for his back pain. The treatment did not stop him from using and abusing the drug. Still in pain he went to another doctor who was located in Indiana. In a matter of months McLaughlin was receiving enormous amounts of the drug. They were filled a Hooks drugstore in South Bend. The prescriptions were made by phone, written, or by refills. Dr. Edwards would later find out and stop writing prescriptions because of all the abuse. Suicide was the last option but McLaughlin could not do it. McLaughlin believed that Hooks breached its duty of care by stopping the prescriptions. It is the pharmacist’s job to know whether or not someone is abusing a prescription when they have records. Hooks believed that no duty is owed especially when McLaughlin was abusing it and tried to take his life. Looking at this the court must decide if Hook was right or wrong for stopping the prescription. The court must also look at McLaughlin as an individual and take into account that he did abuse the drug for months and that he almost commuted suicide so is somewhat unstable. What if the prescriptions never stopped and McLaughlin over dosed? Who would be reliable McLaughlin, the doctor, or maybe the pharmacists?
The Indiana Supreme Court would later rule in favor of Hook. Even though it wrong to refill “dangerous drugs” for a patient without fully paying attention to all the frequent visits, that pharmacist still has the authority to stop refilling the prescription. The court agreed with the pharmacist’s decision and with the public issues involved by law if a pharmacist (knowing that the patient abuses/addicted) is giving drugs to aid an addict they would be held accounted for.
The pharmacists should always put...