Almost all physicians write prescriptions, and each prescription requires a physician to assess the risks and benefits of the drug for their patient. If an adverse drug reaction occurs, physicians may be called on to defend their risk-benefit assessment in court.
The assessment of risk is complicated when there is a black box warning that describes potentially serious and life-threatening adverse reactions associated with a drug. Some of our most commonly prescribed drugs have black box warnings, and drugs that were initially approved by the FDA without black box warnings may have them added years later.