Injuries resulting from pharmacy malpractice will most likely put you in the hospital and consist of:
- Extreme illness
- Severe allergic reactions
- Overdose
- Underdose
- Miscarriage
- Diabetic Coma
- Single or multiple organ failure, and
- Death
Examples Pharmacy Malpractice Errors
Dosage Errors – This occurs when the individual pharmacist fills a prescription with a dose that is higher or lower than what was ordered and prescribed by the doctor. One can see the obvious problems with a dosage error. In one case I handled against one of the largest retail pharmacies in America, the pharmacist misfiled the dosage of an antipsychotic medication to level that absolutely tortured an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer’s for over a month and a half before his painful, slow and tragic death.
Incorrect Prescriptions – This can occur when the doctor prescribes the wrong medication, or more commonly when the pharmacist actually fills the wrong prescription by sending the patient home with the wrong medication. This can also commonly happen when the pharmacist accidentally gives out the wrong prescription to a patient, or switches two patients’ prescriptions. In another case I handled against one of the largest retail pharmacies in America, the pharmacist filled my client’s much needed diabetic medication with a totally unrelated medication that landed my client in the hospital for several days suffering from a diabetic coma.
Failure to Counsel Patient – Part of a pharmacist’s job is to provide information to the patient about possible drug interactions and complications – it is what a pharmacist is supposed to do. This is not the job of the pharmacy tech, an assistant or a high school part timer who is primarily responsible for the cash register. In another case I handled against one of the largest retail pharmacies in America, the pharmacist failed to counsel my client of the risks of taking a certain medication that had been prescribed due to my client’s Asian ethnicity. Had proper pharmacy counseling occurred, my client could have avoided over a million dollars in medical costs along with severe and permanent injuries resulting in a severe allergic reaction causing Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.
Pharmacy Malpractice
It is truly amazing to me how many injuries are caused by the improper distribution of medication. It is scary to think about how many pharmacy transactions take place every day. Folks receive prescriptions from their doctors, and they go to their local pharmacy to fill the prescription. Everyone trusts that their pharmacy is safe, and that their pharmacy will provide the proper medication they need. Unfortunately, pharmacies make mistakes every day, and they negligently put patients at risk for severe sickness, injury or death. Pharmacy malpractice is considered a form of medical malpractice and is caused by pharmacists, or pharmacy technicians, failing to competently perform their medical duties to protect the safety of patients.
Pharmacy Malpractice
It is truly amazing to me how many injuries are caused by the improper distribution of medication. It is scary to think about how many pharmacy transactions take place every day. Folks receive prescriptions from their doctors, and they go to their local pharmacy to fill the prescription. Everyone trusts that their pharmacy is safe, and that their pharmacy will provide the proper medication they need. Unfortunately, pharmacies make mistakes every day, and they negligently put patients at risk for severe sickness, injury or death. Pharmacy malpractice is considered a form of medical malpractice and is caused by pharmacists, or pharmacy technicians, failing to competently perform their medical duties to protect the safety of patients.
Injuries resulting from pharmacy malpractice will most likely put you in the hospital and consist of:
- Extreme illness
- Severe allergic reactions
- Overdose
- Underdose
- Miscarriage
- Diabetic Coma
- Single or multiple organ failure, and
- Death
Examples Pharmacy Malpractice Errors
Dosage Errors – This occurs when the individual pharmacist fills a prescription with a dose that is higher or lower than what was ordered and prescribed by the doctor. One can see the obvious problems with a dosage error. In one case I handled against one of the largest retail pharmacies in America, the pharmacist misfiled the dosage of an antipsychotic medication to level that absolutely tortured an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer’s for over a month and a half before his painful, slow and tragic death.
Incorrect Prescriptions – This can occur when the doctor prescribes the wrong medication, or more commonly when the pharmacist actually fills the wrong prescription by sending the patient home with the wrong medication. This can also commonly happen when the pharmacist accidentally gives out the wrong prescription to a patient, or switches two patients’ prescriptions. In another case I handled against one of the largest retail pharmacies in America, the pharmacist filled my client’s much needed diabetic medication with a totally unrelated medication that landed my client in the hospital for several days suffering from a diabetic coma.
Failure to Counsel Patient – Part of a pharmacist’s job is to provide information to the patient about possible drug interactions and complications – it is what a pharmacist is supposed to do. This is not the job of the pharmacy tech, an assistant or a high school part timer who is primarily responsible for the cash register. In another case I handled against one of the largest retail pharmacies in America, the pharmacist failed to counsel my client of the risks of taking a certain medication that had been prescribed due to my client’s Asian ethnicity. Had proper pharmacy counseling occurred, my client could have avoided over a million dollars in medical costs along with severe and permanent injuries resulting in a severe allergic reaction causing Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.
What Causes Pharmacy Errors/Malpractice?
From what I’ve seen handling these cases, it appears me that these large, nationwide retail pharmacies are placing too much work on the pharmacy staff leading to preventable errors. Sometimes a “fill quota” is placed on a pharmacist by the retail corporate office that makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to fill a certain number of prescriptions per hour and do it safely. It goes back to the old saying of “profit over safety.” Pharmacies are not fast food restaurants. There is simply too much at stake for needless medication errors.
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