When you take a prescription to the pharmacy, you expect the drugs in the bottle to be the drugs you need. Many people face injuries and illness each year because of mistakes made at the doctor’s office or the pharmacy that end with the wrong drugs delivered to the patient. In many cases, this means that the drugs you take will simply not help you, but in some cases, the wrong drugs could cause severe health complications or injuries, especially if the dosage is dangerously high.
If you or a loved one was injured or suffered illness because you were given the wrong prescription or your pharmacy made a medication error, call The Queenan Law Firm today. Our Houston medication error and wrong prescription lawyers may be able to take your case and fight to get you the compensation you need. For a free legal consultation on your potential case, call us today at (817) 476-1797.
Causes of Prescription Medication Mistakes
Prescription medication follows a particular process before it gets to the patient. First, the manufacturer produces the drugs and ships them to drug distribution companies. The distributors sell medication to pharmacies, which may be standalone pharmacy companies or pharmacies within a doctor’s office or hospital. Your doctor will write a prescription, which authorizes the pharmacy staff to give the prescriptions to you in person at the pharmacy or through home delivery. Along this process, there are many potential places where issues can occur.
If the manufacturer or the wholesaler commits errors in producing or labeling the drugs, it is possible that you could receive the wrong drug entirely. These errors are rare, but there is a potential for errors here.
More likely, either your doctor or the pharmacy made a mistake. Pharmacists are supposed to fill the prescription as written by the doctor. Traditionally, doctors would literally write prescriptions on a prescription pad, and you would be responsible for taking the hand-written prescription to the pharmacy. This is still required for some narcotics, but most prescriptions are digitally transmitted from the doctor’s office to the pharmacy. This helps eliminate potential errors caused by a doctor’s poor handwriting or smudges on the paper. However, other mistakes can still occur – typically limiting errors to mistakes caused by human error and negligence.
If your doctor orders the wrong prescription or the wrong dosage, the pharmacy will usually fill it as ordered. This means that your doctor’s error will pass through to you, and you will receive the wrong drug. Unless your doctor specifically told you the dosage and medication you should have received, it would be difficult to identify this error. Furthermore, if the doctor did not know that the drug they prescribed was the wrong drug, you will likely be unable to discover this error until your health begins to decline.
In some cases, the doctor may order the proper prescription to treat your condition, but they may order a drug that is dangerous to you. Mistakenly prescribing drugs you are allergic to, drugs that will interact with other drugs you take, or drugs that have especially severe side effects, risks of addiction, or other complications could also be considered negligent.
If the pharmacist made the mistake, your doctor may be able to help you identify the error. Sometimes, pharmacists or pharmacy assistants may misread the prescription or literally mix up bottles, giving you the wrong drugs. These errors can sometimes be identified by looking at the label on your drugs and double-checking the color, shape, and markings on the pill or tablet. However, sometimes the label is also wrong preventing you from finding the error and contributing to the pharmacist’s negligence.
Suing for Damages for Prescription Drug Errors and Mistakes in Texas
Regardless of which party is responsible – the manufacturer, the pharmacist, or the doctor – you may be entitled to take them to court to seek compensation for the harm you suffered. It is vital to save any medication, seek a second opinion from another doctor, and talk to an attorney immediately for help with your case if you suspect you were injured by a medication error.
Many prescription medication errors can cause substantial health complications. Prescription drugs are intended to help the patient; if you were given the wrong drug, you may miss out on the help you needed, and your condition may worsen.
Additionally, the drugs you were given could cause worse symptoms, drug interactions with other medication you take, allergic reactions that could have been avoided, or harmful side-effects. You may be entitled to seek damages for any additional medication and healthcare costs these mistakes caused you as well as damages for the pain, suffering, and lost wages related to these injuries and side effects.
Proving your case requires showing how the responsible party was negligent in causing the prescription medication error. Your lawyer can investigate the cause of the mistake by interviewing your doctor, questioning the pharmacist, looking at the prescription and medical records, and delving into the details of how you ended up with the wrong medication or the wrong dosage. When your case goes to court, you may need to hire an expert to help testify as to how the doctor or pharmacist was negligent. A medical expert can testify as to what the proper procedures and protocols are, pointing out to the jury where your doctor when wrong or what the pharmacist did to cause the error.
Talk to a lawyer about building your case and to get more information about what your claim might be worth.
Call Our Houston, TX Attorney for Prescription Drug Errors to Schedule a Free Consultation
If you or a loved one was given medication that led to an allergic reaction, bad side effects, drug interactions, or worsening conditions, contact a lawyer right away. The Queenan Law Firm’s Houston prescription error and wrong medication lawyers may be able to help with your case. Call our law offices today to set up a free legal consultation with our attorneys. Our number is (817) 476-1797.