Medication Error Injury Accident

Medication Errors

Medical errors of all types are a significant cause of wrongful death and negative consequences to patient health; leading the list of medical mistakes are those related to prescription medications.

Drug-Related Injuries: the Numbers

The Institute of Medicine conducted a study to determine how frequently patients are harmed by various errors in prescribing and administering prescription medications. The results are no less than shocking: around 400,000 preventable drug-related injuries occur every year in US hospitals, and another 800,000 in long-term healthcare facilities. Overall, one person dies in the United States every day, and approximately 1.3 million people suffer some kind of harm to their health as a direct result of a medication error.

Types of Medication Errors

These are a few of the ways that medication errors occur:

• A doctor writes an incorrect prescription.
• A doctor’s handwriting on the prescription is illegible, resulting in the pharmacist misreading it.
• A pharmacist inadvertently confuses two drugs with similar sounding names.
• A nurse gives a drug to the wrong hospital patient or gives a patient the wrong amount of a drug.
• A pharmacist or pharmacy tech hands a customer someone else’s prescription.
• A doctor keeps renewing a prescription without examining the patient to determine if it is still appropriate.

In each of these situations, the harm resulting from the error could have easily been prevented with proper care.

You Have Recourse

Every medical professional owes his or her patients a quality of care consistent with standards set by the profession. It takes years of education and rigorous testing to become licensed as a physician, nurse, or pharmacist, and patients have the right to expect that they will receive the benefit of their professional training when they are given medication. A breach of the standard of care expected of a member of the profession by the medical community, when it harms a patient, may be considered professional malpractice.

If you or a member of your family suffered harm to your health as a result of a medication error, you may have recourse against the party responsible for your injury by bringing a civil action for medical malpractice. For the best results, you should obtain the assistance of an experienced personal injury and medical malpractice attorney.

Choosing the Best Lawyer for Your Medication Error Case

If you or someone close to you has suffered serious health consequences as the result of medication error by your own doctor, a pharmacist, or an employee of a hospital, clinic, or long-term care facility, you may be able to recover money as compensation for your damages. This is not something that you should attempt to tackle on your own.

Medical malpractice cases of every kind are complicated and require long hours of investigatory work, significant financial resources, and access to medical professionals who will review your medical records and testify on your behalf. You will need an attorney who practices personal injury law exclusively—not a general practice attorney. Your attorney must be familiar with medical terminology, standards, and procedures, and will need to be able to call upon appropriate experts to support your case.

At Chaffin Luhana, our attorneys have years of experience in all kinds of medical malpractice claims, including medication errors, and a demonstrable record of successful outcomes, with substantial recoveries for our clients. We understand how errors occur and how to identify responsible parties through careful investigation supported by respected medical and pharmaceutical experts who are available to help us lay the basis for your claim and provide expert testimony, in depositions or in court when necessary.

A Commitment to Justice

At Chaffin Luhana, we are deeply committed to upholding the highest standards of patient care and safety and to recovering an adequate amount of money to fully compensate our clients for their financial losses and quality-of-life damages resulting from professional wrongdoing. When medical negligence occurs, making those responsible face up to the damage they’ve caused and pay for it acts as a deterrent to future negligence.

By holding doctors, pharmacists, and other health care professionals accountable to their patients, we believe that we are performing an essential service, not only to our clients who are seeking justice, but to anyone who depends on the medical profession for their continued health and safety—in other words, just about everyone.
We offer a free consultation and accept cases on a contingency basis, so you’ll never get a bill for legal fees or expenses unless we win a settlement or verdict in your favor.