We take medications to support our health, and most of us do not consider that our prescriptions could contain mistakes. However, prescription errors can have serious consequences, and it is important to contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney if you or someone you care about has endured legal damages as a result. A Houston prescription error lawyer at KGS Law PLLC could help defend your rights as a patient.
When Does a Prescription Error Constitute Medical Malpractice?
Not every prescription error qualifies as medical malpractice for which you can seek compensation under state law. For the error to be medical malpractice, the pharmacy must have failed to fulfill its duty of care, which is its responsibility to provide proper, safe care. This responsibility is considerable when it concerns medications and your health.
For your Houston lawyer to bring a successful prescription error claim, they must demonstrate that the pharmacy owed you a duty of care, as established in the pharmacy–customer relationship, and that they breached this duty. If your pharmacist took an action that others reasonably would not have, or failed to take an action that others reasonably would have, they may have committed malpractice. The pharmacy’s error must also be the direct cause of your legal damages.
Possible Legal Damages
Your claim must show that the prescription error caused you to experience legal damages. There are several basic categories of damages, which include economic and non-economic losses. Your Houston prescription error attorney could work hard to get you compensation for the losses you endured.
You could claim compensation for medical expenses if the prescription error caused your condition to worsen or otherwise negatively affected your health. Compensation could also cover lost income if the prescription error caused you to miss work and lose earnings. Non-economic damages could include physical and emotional pain and suffering that resulted from the error.
Common Prescription Errors
Our Houston attorneys treat each prescription error claim individually. These errors can either happen when your provider prescribes a medication or when you go to the pharmacy to collect it. The most common errors involve:
- Prescribing the wrong medication
- Failing to include label warnings
- Providing inadequate instructions
- Applying an inaccurate label or the wrong label
- Prescribing the wrong dosage or strength of the medication
- Failing to take the patient’s other medications into consideration
- Failing to take the patient’s unique health needs into consideration
- Dispensing errors, such as dispensing the wrong medications or dispensing medications that have expired or that have otherwise lost their efficacy
Other errors involve the drug’s administration, such as in a hospital, clinic, rehabilitation center, or nursing home. For instance, a practitioner may administer the wrong drug, the wrong dosage of the right drug, or the right drug on the wrong schedule.
Further, a caregiver could administer a medication via the wrong method, such as orally rather than topically or through an injection rather than orally. They may also administer the drug to the wrong patient.
Common Causes of Prescription Errors
Our lawyers understand that a variety of factors could cause prescription errors in Houston. Some of the most common causes are based on human error and involve fatigue, distraction, inexperience, and lack of time.
There can also be system and process errors. Faulty transcription, too few checks, and inadequate communication between one medical professional and another could cause prescription mistakes.
Another potential cause is drugs either looking alike or having similar names. Mixups that happen because of similar packaging, pill shape, and name are more common than you may realize.
Call an Experienced Prescription Error Attorney in Houston
An accomplished Houston prescription error lawyer at KGS Law PLLC is well-positioned to fiercely advocate for your rights and skillfully pursue the compensation you deserve. We are on your side and here to help. Contact us online or call us today.