You Should Be Compensated For A Harmful Prescription Error

Errors By Doctors In Prescribing Medications

Doctors can make numerous errors when prescribing medication, including:

• Dosage errors: Many prescription drugs are perfectly safe but can be extremely dangerous or even lethal if prescribed in the wrong dosages. Underdosing can lead to the inability of the drug to function as expected. Overdosing can result in serious injuries or even death.
• Failure to check medication combinations: It is critical for doctors to check possible drug combination problems, as many drugs that are safe on their own can be extremely dangerous or have horrible side effects if prescribed together.
• Mislabeling: Even if the medication and the dosage are correct, none of this will matter if the doctor writes the wrong information on the prescription pad. While this mistake can be labeled as a simple administrative error, it can have catastrophic results.

These are a few of the mistakes doctors can make in their work of prescribing medication to their patients. These errors can have lifelong negative consequences and really hinder someone’s life.

Pharmaceutical Errors

Doctors aren’t the only ones who can make deadly errors in getting patients the right prescription medications. Even if the doctor does everything perfectly, the pharmacist can fill the prescription incorrectly. They can add too strong of a dose, give out the wrong medicine or make other errors that can be just as deadly as a prescription error by the doctor.

What Counts As A Medication Error?

A medication error is any preventable mistake in the prescribing, dispensing or administering of a drug that causes or has the potential to cause harm. These errors are more varied than most people realize. Common examples include:

• Wrong drug, wrong patient or wrong dose prescribed or dispensed
• Wrong route of administration such as oral medication given intravenously
• Duplicate therapy, where two medications from the same drug class are prescribed together
• Allergy contraindication errors, where a known allergy is overlooked
• Pediatric dosing mistakes involving incorrect weight-based calculations
• Look-alike or sound-alike drug mix-ups, commonly known as LASA errors
• Confusing abbreviations or illegible handwriting on prescription pads
• Failure to monitor patients on high-risk medications such as warfarin or certain antibiotics, requiring kidney function tracking

If any of these situations led to harm, you may have a valid medical malpractice claim worth pursuing.

Common Injuries And Complications From Medication Errors

Medication errors can cause injuries that range from temporary discomfort to permanent disability or death. The harm caused depends on the type of error and the patient’s underlying condition, but the consequences are frequently severe. Injuries our attorneys see in these cases include:

• Internal bleeding, stroke or organ damage affecting the kidneys or liver
• Cardiac arrhythmias triggered by incorrect dosages or dangerous drug combinations
• Hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia events resulting from improper diabetes medication management
• Respiratory depression or dangerous over-sedation from opioids or anesthesia errors
• Severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis or Stevens-Johnson syndrome
• Falls and fractures in older adults caused by sedatives that impair balance and coordination
• Birth injuries or pregnancy complications resulting from contraindicated medications

These are serious, life-altering harms – and in many cases, they were entirely preventable. While we cannot promise specific outcomes, our attorneys at Pavich Law Group, P.C., work to build the strongest possible case for every client we represent.

Who Can Be Liable For A Medication Error?

Many people assume that only the prescribing doctor or pharmacist can be held responsible for a medication error. In reality, liability can extend to multiple parties depending on where and how the error occurred. Potentially liable parties may include:

• Prescribing physicians, covering physicians or specialists who ordered the medication
• Hospital or clinic systems whose policies, staffing shortages or electronic medical record failures contributed to the error
• Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians or mail-order pharmacy operations that dispensed the wrong drug or dosage
• Nurses or other clinical staff who administered medication incorrectly in a hospital or outpatient setting
• Long-term care facilities where medication pass errors are a recurring and underreported problem
• Drug manufacturers or labeling entities when a product defect or misleading label contributed to the mistake

Identifying every liable party is a critical part of maximizing your recovery. Our attorneys investigate every angle of your case to make sure no responsible party escapes accountability.