Pharmacies Filling In The Wrong Prescription Lawyers

Taking the wrong medication or the wrong dosage can seriously affect your health, it could even kill you. That’s why pharmacists are taking on a great responsibility when they provide you with your prescription, or at least what you believe is your prescription, because when they fail to take the necessary care to ensure that you are getting the right medication, your health is put at serious risk, and they may be found liable for any harm they cause.

In cases where a pharmacist acted negligently and provided the wrong type of prescription or the wrong dosage of the correct medication, and a patient suffered injuries as a result, medical negligence laws apply and may be used to help victims of medication error get fair compensation for damages they suffer, including medical costs, emotional harm, and lost wages as a result of the error.

At Thistle Law, we’ve handled countless medical malpractice cases and over the years have helped families suffering from a health provider’s negligence navigate the sometimes complicated liability laws concerning pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. As a family practice, we treat all of our clients with compassion and care. To help you have a better idea of what constitutes a medication error case, we’ll look at some of the basic information you need to know.

Causes of Medication Error

Medication error refers to cases in which a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist is negligent in prescribing medication. Here, being negligent means that they should’ve been aware that the amount or type of medicine they prescribed to a patient had the potential to cause unwarranted harm. While most medications can have side-effects that impact a patient’s health, the injuries to the patient should not result from a healthcare professional’s mistake. 

Medication errors and other kinds of medical negligence can happen for a number of reasons, but they are most commonly tied to poor communication, understaffing, fatigue, and improper safety precautions. The most common types of medication error a pharmacist might make are:

• Providing the wrong medication
• Providing the wrong dosage of medication
• Mixing the medication improperly
• Mixing the medication with another medication
• Proving medication meant for another person

Mistakes with the administration of medication can be very serious because not only can it make a victim’s existing health condition worse by failing to treat it, but it can also produce unintended drug effects that they may overdose on or have a bad reaction to.

How Do You Know If You Have a Wrong Prescription Case

When someone is injured as a result of an improper prescription, they may be able to get compensation with a medical malpractice lawsuit, however, medical mistakes do happen and not all of them are subject to legal action. In order to file a wrong prescription lawsuit, the negligence of the pharmacist must have directly caused the victim’s injuries. 

In order to prove negligence, you’ll have to show that:

• The healthcare worker had a duty of care, medical professionals are obligated to treat you the same way a similarly qualified professional would in the same instance, you must show that the person you’re suing had a duty of care to you
• The duty was breached, you must demonstrate that the healthcare professional failed to meet reasonable standards of care
• That the negligence directly caused the injuries you suffered, taking the wrong medication does not mean that any recent health problems were necessarily caused by that
• The injuries the medication caused you resulted in financial and emotional damage.

In most cases, a knowledgeable legal team will be able to make connections with healthcare experts to help you prove your case.

Philadelphia Improper Prescription Lawyer

If you or a loved one have suffered because a pharmacy filled the wrong prescription, you should contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. The team at Thistle Law has decades of legal experience and will help you get the compensation your deserve.

Get your free consultation today through our contact form, or call us at 215-525-6824.