FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2018
Contact:Eric W. Boyer, Esq.
Managing Partner
305.670.1101 Ext. 1023
Email: eboyer@qpwblaw.com
QPWB DEFENSE DEMONSTRATES PHARMACISTS ADHERED TO FLORIDA
LAW IN DISPENSING PAIN MEDICATION
Pharmacy / Prescription Defense
Todd Michael Smayda
TAMPA, Fla. – Todd M. Smayda (Smayda), a partner in the Tampa office of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A. obtained a summary judgment for a pharmacy client after six years of litigation against them and the prescribing physicians. The plaintiff’s estate sought to hold the pharmacy liable for dispensing legally prescribed pain pills to the plaintiff, who, unbeknownst to the pharmacists, was addicted. Each of the co-defendants had brought motions for summary judgment before the court but were denied, making this summary judgment especially meaningful for Smayda’s client.
There is a dearth of Florida case law on a pharmacist’s duty of care, especially definitions of what “due and proper care” and “unreasonable prescriptions” mean in dispensing pain medications. In discovery, Smayda established evidence that the dispensing pharmacists followed reasonable protocols and dispensed the medications well within the requirements of Florida law. Smayda provided the Court a survey of Florida law on the issue of a pharmacist’s duty, which is open to interpretation on some issues. He relied on his examination of the Plaintiff’s own expert witness as a basis for his summary judgment argument, using the opposing expert’s testimony to establish that his pharmacy clients met the standard of care for dispensing pharmacists under current interpretations of Florida law.
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Todd M. Smayda has a 20-year history defending health care providers and pharmacy negligence claims throughout the State of Florida.
About QPWB
Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., is the largest minority and women owned law firm in the nation with more than 370 lawyers serving clients from 21 offices in the United States and abroad across a spectrum of industries in over 40 areas of practice. Our lawyers provide representation in litigation, business, real estate and governmental law.