Prescription drugs are a key part of many treatment plans. Many people need painkillers after an accident or antibiotics to treat infections, or rely on medication to control chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure or anxiety. At Tittle & Perlmuter, we recognize the risks that prescription errors pose to patients. Very few people know what drugs they should take—instead, we rely on our doctor to prescribe the right medication and on a pharmacist to fill the order correctly. When something goes wrong, people end up suffering from emergency medical events, or they simply fail to get well. When an error occurs, our prescription error lawyers can help get you the compensation and justice you deserve.
Common Medication and Prescription Errors
Many types of medication and prescription errors harm patients:
- Wrong medication: Your doctor might prescribe a drug which doesn’t treat your condition, which means you won’t get better. Even worse, they might prescribe a drug which you are allergic to, or which negatively interacts with another drug you are currently taking. This means you could suffer a serious medical emergency.
- Wrong dose: A doctor might prescribe too much or too little. Consequently, you might fail to get well or actually have negative side effects.
- Misfilled prescriptions: A pharmacist might not correctly fill the prescription. You could end up with the wrong drug or the wrong dosage strength.
- Lack of labeling, instructions, or warnings: A pharmacist should provide information telling you how to take the drug and warning of common side effects. When this information is missing, you could end up injured.
- Dispensation errors: A nurse could dispense the wrong drug to a patient, leading them to become injured. This is a common injury in nursing homes.
Contact us to review your case with a prescription error lawyer in Cleveland.
Negative Health Outcomes: How Prescription Errors Harm Patients
Sometimes, a prescription error will be harmless. Perhaps you quickly notice the mistake, or the drug doesn’t cause any side effects. But many patients will suffer one or more of the following:
- Delayed recovery: Until you receive the right medication, your condition will probably worsen, and your pain will continue.
- Allergic reaction or negative interaction: You could suffer a horrifying medical emergency if given the wrong drug. You might have a stroke or end up in a coma. Many people are rushed to the hospital.
- Increased medical expenses: Negative interactions require additional, costly medical treatment. You could need surgery or hospitalization.
- Death: In the United States, more than 120,000 people die from prescription drugs.
What Causes Medication and Prescription Errors?
These mistakes are surprisingly common. Some reasons include:
- Physician burnout: Your doctor could be struggling with overwork, which leads to carelessness when filling out a prescription.
- Improper training: Pharmacy technicians might not receive necessary training or supervision, so they make more errors. A nurse could also lack the training necessary to dispense the correct medication.
- Carelessness: Your doctor might fail to consider risk factors or your medical history before writing a prescription. There is no explanation other than being careless.
- Data entry problems: Your medical profile might be missing all the drugs you are currently taking, as well as information about your allergies. Even if you supply this information to your doctor, a clerk could fail to enter the data correctly.
- Understaffing: Many national pharmacies are understaffed to save money. Those who come into work every day are overwhelmed, rush through their jobs, and make mistakes.
- Drug addiction: A nurse might be addicted to the drug you are taking, so she helps herself to it and gives you a different medication.
Medication mistakes in Cleveland are preventable. One way to improve the quality of medical care is to seek financial compensation from those responsible for the mistake. A lawsuit of this sort will create an incentive for a doctor or pharmacist to improve their performance.
Medication and Prescription Errors Are Malpractice
Medical malpractice law allows patients to seek financial compensation when they are injured.
Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists should have professional liability insurance, which can pay a settlement to an injured patient. Hospitals and pharmacies should also have liability policies to cover medication mistakes in Cleveland.
Call Tittle & Perlmuter. We can look at the evidence to see if you have a strong claim. Our goal is to seek financial compensation for your increased medical costs, bodily pain, mental distress, lost income, and other losses. We can provide an overview of the claims process in a consultation, including tips about what evidence to preserve.
Speak with a Cleveland Medication and Prescriptions Errors Lawyer
Doctors and pharmacists typically defend themselves aggressively from any claim that they made a prescription error. You need a powerful advocate in your corner to ensure your voice is heard in this process. Give Tittle & Perlmuter a call. Our firm can negotiate on your behalf for a fair settlement for your injuries.
