Pharmacy Misfills and Medication Errors

As patients, we place a great deal of trust in our pharmacies to ensure that our prescriptions are filled correctly. Medication errors and pharmacy misfills occur far too often as the result of pharmacist negligence. The personal injury attorneys at Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, have over twenty years litigating claims related to medication errors and pharmacy misfills in the Baltimore area. We work closely with medical experts to evaluate your claim and aggressively pursue the compensation that you deserve.

Unfortunately, at least 400,000 injuries occur in hospitals each year as the result of medication errors. In order to recover damages for a pharmacy error or misfill, the plaintiff must show that the defendant acted negligently. The first step to proving negligence is showing that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care. In the context of a pharmacy error case, this entails showing that the pharmacist failed to act with the ordinary care and skill that a pharmacist from the same geographic location would use when handling the prescription for a patient with similar demographics, like age, gender, and medical conditions. Common examples of medication errors include the failure to fill the prescription with the correct medicine, filling the prescription with the correct medicine but in the wrong dosage, and giving a patient another person’s prescription. The second step in a negligence claim requires the plaintiff to show that the defendant failed to meet this duty of care. Next, the plaintiff must show that the defendant’s failure to meet the standard of care was the direct cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

The consequences of taking the wrong medication, or taking the wrong dosage, can be devastating and will often make patients sicker, not healthier. In some circumstances, a medication error or pharmacy misfill can result in the patient’s wrongful death. Many prescription errors and misfills happen when pharmacists fail to adhere to specific rules governing the filling and verification of prescriptions. Corporate employers frequently require pharmacy personnel to fill a certain quota of prescriptions each day, which results in many pharmacists working too quickly. In many cases, the quantity of prescriptions filled is emphasized over the quality of the prescriptions provided. Additionally, there are a number of people involved in the prescription filling process, including pharmacists, pharmacy clerks, pharmacy technicians, and other staff. This creates multiple instances during which errors can occur. Examples of some of the categories of damages that are available to victims of pharmacy errors include medical expenses, physical therapy, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury as the result of a medication error or pharmacy mistake, Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers can help. Our lawyers have represented numerous plaintiffs in medical malpractice and pharmacy error cases throughout the Maryland and Washington, D.C., area and know what it takes to build a successful case. Contact us online today or call us toll free at (800) 654-1949 or (410) 654-3600 for a free, no obligation consultation.