Pharmacy Errors
Because health care workers owe such a high duty of care to their patients, we trust that these professionals will not make catastrophic and harmful mistakes. However, they are prone to erring just as much as anyone else, so mistakes do happen. One of the most dangerous yet most common types of medical blunders is pharmacy error. When you are given the incorrect medication for your illness, you have been a victim of pharmacy error.
Why Pharmacy Errors Occur
Pharmacy errors result from a number of different situations:
- Poor doctor handwriting
- Understaffed pharmacy
- Mislabeling the medication bottle
- Misreading the medication label
- Reliance on technicians
- Overworked pharmacists
Even though these mistakes are not intentional, they are still a result of professional negligence on behalf of the pharmacist, the physician, or both people.
The Dangers of Pharmacy Errors
Pharmaceutical errors can cause very serious, adverse side effects. When patients are given too much of a certain medicine, they can overdose. When they are given too little, they may experience a delay in treatment. In certain situations, this can be devastating. Finally, if a patient is given the wrong medication altogether, he or she may experience adverse reactions to the drug.
For example, in the case of on unfortunate California boy, he was accidentally given an adult’s high blood pressure medication instead of his prescribed mental health medicine. After three weeks of taking these drugs, he had become shaky and delirious. Luckily, the source of these issues was caught, but had he not been taken off the medication right away, the boy would likely have passed away.
Contact Us
If you have been a victim of pharmacy error, then an experienced and skilled personal injury lawyer can help you fight for the compensation that is rightfully yours. Contact the Tucson personal injury lawyers of Haralson, Miller, Pitt, Feldman & McAnally today at 1-800-639-8460 to discuss your situation with a qualified lawyer.