What Are My Legal Options When a Pharmacist Issues the Wrong Medication?

When you’re picking up medicine from a pharmacy, you’re usually filled with relief. You’ve been to the doctor, gotten a diagnosis, and now you’re ready to get your medicine so you can start treating whatever is ailing you. However, when pharmacists make mistakes, severe adverse health effects can occur. You could end up with another injury because of the wrong medication you took. This should never happen to anyone, but unfortunately it does.

What Are the Kinds of Prescription Errors?

While your doctor may have prescribed you the correct medication, this doesn’t automatically mean this is what you’ll pick up at the pharmacy. When your pharmacist gets the prescription, they could make a few kinds of mistakes.

They could give you the wrong medication that sounds similar to the one you’re supposed to have. You’d be taking a medication that treats something completely different from what’s ailing you. This poses many dangers. There’s also the question of how an unknown medication will react to any other medications you’re taking and how it could possibly affect other pre-existing conditions. On top of all that, your original ailment is still not getting the treatment it needs to get better.

Pharmacists could also give you the improper dosage of the correct medication. When it comes to medication, the correct dosage can be the difference between life and death. If you take too much of a drug, it could lead to overdosing situations or cause other health effects where you will need to return to the doctor. Taking too little of the drug may not have any signs at first, but your injury or illness will not be getting the right dosage, which means it may not be effective. In some cases, this could result in your condition worsening.

Why Do Pharmacy Mistakes Happen?

Pharmacies are required to have a system in place that ensures all medications are thoroughly checked and that what’s inside each bottle or container is the same as what was prescribed. Unfortunately, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are still capable of making mistakes.

Mistakes may happen due to fatigue and exhaustion. If a pharmacist is working long hours or they’re the only pharmacist available, they may not be taking breaks and getting the rest they need. When they’re not focusing on the task at hand, this could lead to misreading a prescription or filling the wrong medication and then giving it to the patient.

Other mistakes may happen due to miscommunication errors or a failure to correctly read a handwritten prescription. Computer system errors may also result in a mistake.

Thomas Law Offices Can Help You

If you or a loved one has been harmed because of an error made by a pharmacist or pharmacy employee, you may be able to get legal aid. Your reaction to the drug may have caused serious health complications.

Our medical malpractice attorneys will look into your case and find out what went wrong. We’ll seek fair compensation for you so you can pay your expenses and breathe a sigh of relief. You’ll be able to recover in peace because you know you have financial stability. Give our office a call today so we can start discussing your options and help you get peace of mind.