Legal Duty Exists If Prescription Drugs Are Shared
 

In Gibson v Kasey, rendered January 22, 2007, Arizona’s Supreme Court allowed a wrongful death action to proceed against a person providing eight prescription pain pills to a co-worker, who in turn gave them to her boyfriend. The boyfriend died in his sleep that evening due to a combination of the prescription medicine and alcohol in his system. The court concluded that the deceased was within the group of persons the Arizona legislature intended to protect in outlawing the dispensing/sharing of prescription drugs. See, A.R.S. §36-253(A)(6); 32-1961(A) and 13-3408(A)(5)). The case provides direction to lower courts on how to determine whether a legal duty exists and cautions judges from becoming involved in weighing of the facts - a role left to the jury under Arizona’s constitution. While reaching the same result, the Arizona Supreme Court vacated much of the court of appeals decision (which was previously discussed in Hot Topics).

THE FOREGOING IS MERELY A PARTIAL SUMMARY OF THE CASE
AND IS NOT INTENDED TO BE RELIED UPON AS A LEGAL OPINION.