A Suffolk County, New York court held on November 16 that White’s Apothecary in East Hampton was not negligent when it filled a physician’s opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions as ordered. The plaintiff had claimed that the pharmacy should be liable for filling “excessive and dangerous doses” of oxycodone and Carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant, despite a lack of medical purpose, and for simultaneously dispensing two medications that could cause overdose when taken together.

The court found that although the prescribed dosages of the drugs were unusually high, “there is no allegation that the pharmacy had any knowledge of the plaintiff’s medical condition.” The lawsuit also accused the plaintiff’s physician of negligence in treating his chronic pain; that portion of the suit can continue.