If you recently became sick after a pharmacist or doctor prescribed the wrong medication, you could receive financial compensation for your illness or injuries. Medication errors, such as incorrect dosages and prescription mix-ups, can cause serious or even fatal complications. Know that a professional Palm Beach Gardens medication error lawyer could fight to hold your doctor or pharmacist responsible for the pain they caused. Read on to learn more about how a skilled malpractice attorney could offer you their assistance today.
What Are Medication Errors?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines medication errors as any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional, patient, or consumer. Some common examples of medication errors can include:
- Mislabeling a prescription
- Incorrectly compounding or mixing a prescription
- Dosage errors
- Failing to properly educate a patient about their medication
- Giving the wrong medication to a patient
- Failing to review a patient’s medical history for known allergies
- Communication failures between the prescribing doctor and pharmacist
Both pharmacists and physicians commit such errors. However, many medication errors are the result of the pharmacist’s negligence. They are ultimately responsible for ensuring a patient receives the correct medication in the correct dosage, as well as accurate information about their drugs.
Medication Errors and Malpractice
Doctors, pharmacists, and other medical practitioners must meet high professional standards. There is little margin for error when it comes to treating patients. When a medical provider fails to comply with those professional standards, their patient could suffer severe harm. This form of professional negligence may be considered medical malpractice. Pharmacists and other practitioners who commit medical malpractice can be held legally liable for their mistakes. Know that a skilled medical malpractice attorney can be a valuable asset in this regard.
Medication Errors Can Be Fatal
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that adverse drug reactions, such as allergic reactions and overmedications, cause more than 1 million emergency department visits and 280,000 hospitalizations each year. Adverse drug reactions could be fatal, which is why it is so important for doctors and pharmacists to avoid medication errors. In some cases, the patient may even suffer a fatal allergic reaction to a medication their doctor or pharmacist prescribed.
Deadly Allergies
Pharmacists have a responsibility to review patients’ medical history and ensure they are not prescribing medicines a patient may be allergic to. In other cases, a patient may receive the wrong medication entirely and suffer a fatal allergic reaction or another harmful side effect. When a medication error becomes fatal, the pharmacist or prescribing doctor may be responsible for the patient’s death. Reach out to a determined Palm Beach Gardens medication error lawyer to learn more.
How a Palm Beach Gardens Medication Error Lawyer Can Help
If you have suffered complications from an error in your prescription, you may be eligible to recover compensation for your damages. An aggressive Palm Beach Gardens medication error lawyer in could help you learn more about the legal options available to you. Reach out to a determined Palm Beach Gardens medication error lawyer today to schedule your initial consultation.
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