Utah Supreme Court rules against Walgreens in malpractice suit

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — In a Thursday ruling, the Utah Supreme Court sided against Walgreens in a malpractice case involving a deadly incident from 2019.

Steven Jensen, 40, was found dead at his home in Saratoga Springs on Feb. 1, 2019, after taking a deadly combination of medications. An autopsy showed his death was caused by oxycodone and clonazepam toxicity.

Days before his death, Jensen’s doctor prescribed a new medication plan which, a 2021 lawsuit claims, ultimately killed him.

A routine doctor visit

According to the lawsuit, Jensen was admitted to the American Fork Hospital in November 2018 where he showed signs of an impaired liver and kidney function. He later consulted Michael Cosgrave M.D. with Premier Family Medical, who prescribed clonazepam, which normally treats panic and seizure disorders.

Documents detail that Jensen had already been taking oxycodone. When taken with oxycodone, clonazepam is known to create a major interaction that can lead to serious side effects.

Despite the risks, the lawsuit claims that Dr. Cosgrave prescribed Jensen four times higher than the FDA-approved limit for initial dosing. Jensen picked up the new medication at a local Walgreens pharmacy in Lehi later that day.

Premier Family Medical confirmed to ABC4.com that Dr. Cosgrave retired over one year ago. However, neither Dr. Cosgrave, nor the company immediately responded to a request for comment on the allegations. ABC4 has reached out for a comment and is waiting to hear back.

“Black Box Warning”

In 2016, the FDA instituted a “Black Box Warning” for the combination of the two medications. Despite the warning, Walgreens reportedly filled the prescription. The order claims that Jensen’s insurer flagged the risky combination of drugs, opening a warning label on the pharmacist’s computer.

Walgreens did not contact Dr. Cosgrave’s office before filling the prescription, the lawsuit claims. However, documents show that Dr. Cosgrave testified that even if the pharmacist had done so, he would have instructed the pharmacist to fill the prescription “exactly as written.”

The court’s ruling shows that within 36 hours of filling the prescription, Jensen was found dead on the floor of his bedroom.

Autopsy results

The results of the autopsy determined the cause of death was “oxycodone clonazepam toxicity.”

Soon after the results came through, Jensen’s wife and parents filed a lawsuit against Walgreens, Dr. Cosgrave, and Premier Family Medical.

Jensen’s wife claims in the 2021 suit that her husband would have told her about the potential risk of taking the two medications simultaneously had he known.

ABC4.com contacted Jensen’s wife who chose not to speak on record at this time.

Lengthy court battle

Walgreens declined ABC4.com’s requests for comment. However, a few weeks after the initial suit was filed, the defendants responded to the allegations in court.

In their response, Walgreens, Premier Family Medical, and Dr. Cosgrave denied the allegations in an 18-page document. In the document, the defendants admit to Dr. Cosgrave’s prescribing both medications, and to the FDA warnings surrounding the risky combination.

According to the Supreme Court opinion, Walgreens argued that the pharmacist had “no duty to warn Jensen,” citing a legal rule known as the “learned intermediary rule.”

The rule places the duty to warn patients of risks falls on the physician prescribing the medication. However, a district court ruling found that the “disputes of material fact” prevented them from siding with Walgreens.

The ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court, who upheld the original decision.

The court said, “… the rule does not alter a pharmacist’s general duty of care to a patient when the pharmacist has knowledge of a patient-specific risk with respect to prescribed medication.”

Despite the ruling, the case still has to continue through the courts. As per the order, the case has been sent back to the district court for further proceedings.

“We’re not close to the end. This is still before trial. It could be two, three years from this date forward,” Clayton Simms, a Defense Attorney told ABC4.

Allegations of malpractice are not proven as factual in a criminal court of law.