Prescription Drug Malpractice Infers Failure of Healthcare Provider to Extend Competent Care

Medical malpractice in hospitals and healthcare facilities happens more frequently than you might imagine. A malpractice may occur in the form of failure to diagnose a specific condition, delay in diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and failure to provide appropriate medical attention, improper administration of drugs, equipment failure, and several other ways.

Any of these errors can have a lethal impact on the patient, and a life-altering situation for his family.

It is the core responsibility of the medical practitioners to ensure maximum support and highest standard of care being extended to the patient. When there is a downfall in this regard, it ultimately means medical negligence and entitles the victim or his family to file a malpractice lawsuit claiming compensation.

Prescription Drug Errors

Malpractice through errors with prescription drugs can happen at any phase of treatment of the patient.

· The doctor may misdiagnose the patient's condition and prescribe medications that are not relevant to his treatment

· The doctor's handwriting may be misread by the pharmacist selling the medication, who consequently sells the wrong drugs

· The nurse may administer the wrong dosage of drugs, or improperly administer the medications through syringe instead of IV

· The patient may receive an overdose or under-dose of the medication

· The medication package may be mislabeled

· The patient may be prescribed a medication that he is allergic to

· The patient's medications may have a negative reaction with the other medications he is consuming

· The patient may not be warned of the possible side effects of the drugs prescribed

Every individual involved in prescribing or administering a drug may be answerable to a prescription drug error. This may include physicians and medical experts, nurses, pharmacists and their assistants, as well as the pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Causes of Prescription Drug Malpractice

Doctors and nurses may often be liable for administering or prescribing wrong medications. This error may happen either with the dosage to be administered or prescribed, or with the name of the medicine itself. Administering wrong dosages is one of the easiest and costliest errors to commit.

The procedure to administer a medicine may vary with different medications. Some drugs may need to be administered through a shot. Other drugs may be infused through IV procedures. If the medical staff administering the drug uses the wrong procedure or injects the medication in the wrong part of the body, the consequences will be catastrophic.

The physician's poor handwriting is one of the most common reasons for prescription drug errors. The pharmacist's misreading the prescription is the immediate consequence, leading to the wrong medication.

Medication also gets mislabeled often. This error may occur either at the manufacturer's facility or in the pharmacy. If the mislabeling happened under the direct custody of the manufacturer or retailer, the patient may file a products liability lawsuit. If the error was committed by the pharmacist, it results in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Legal Support

If you or a loved one has suffered due to prescription drug malpractice, contact our New York City medical malpractice attorneys to weigh your best options for legal action. Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff, & Wolff (RMFW) have law offices situated in Astoria, Queens, New York City, and two offices in Brooklyn.

Our attorneys will assess your case and let you know if your case is viable. If your case has potential, we will carry the legal torch for you. We are not paid until you are paid!

Call RMFW at 212-344-1000 to schedule a free consultation. It could be the most valuable phone call you ever make!