Remember the old days when a clinical trial involved physicians and hospitals, not lawyers and courtrooms?

In the increasingly litigious societies of the Western world, it seems that modern pharmaceutical developments get more media attention when they are the topic of legal scandal than when they save lives. It has gotten to the point where I am surprised that any self-respecting drug company is willing to get out of the bed in the morning for fear of being handed a summons to appear before a grand jury.

And while we may not think that these lawsuits have any impact on the day-to-day lives of medical practitioners—beyond, of course, the havoc they wreak on mutual funds and retirement accounts—it is daunting to consider that every time a physician writes a prescription and a nurse or pharmacist dispenses a medication, he or she is potentially connected to a massive lawsuit (if not actually summoned to appear in court).

It is undeniable that in our zeal to provide aid to suffering people—to fulfill the Hippocratic or some other mytho-medical oath—there are bound to be occasions where we will miss the mark and do harm. That is true for physicians, nurses, pharmacists and even for drug companies.

Is the onus on drug companies and medical practitioners to minimize the likelihood of harm? Sure. But safety cannot be guaranteed; to anyone, under any circumstances. To believe otherwise is naïve—and perhaps even dangerous.

The end-result of these class-action lawsuits is likely to be fewer drugs being developed to treat fewer diseases, which translates quite linearly into more otherwise avoidable deaths worldwide. How sad that will be.