When doctors prescribe medication, we trust that they are providing something that will improve or stabilize our health. Unfortunately, when there’s a mistake with the medication, the substance that is supposed to help often causes great harm instead.
When your health is severely compromised by a medication error, can you hold someone liable? If so, who? A Wyoming pharmacy malpractice attorney can provide some answers, but only after a thorough investigation. For background information, here are some of the parties who could be held to blame and required to provide compensation for medication mistakes in Wyoming.
Investigating to Pinpoint the Errors
To determine who’s at fault for a medication mistake, you need to understand precisely what the problem was and then investigate to determine how the problem occurred. No one is going to freely admit a mistake, so it’s often quite difficult to ascertain what happened. If you have a bottle of the wrong medicine, for instance, is it wrong because the doctor named the wrong medication or dose? Or did someone transcribe the prescription incorrectly? Or is it wrong because the pharmacy filled the prescription incorrectly or because a shipping company sent you the wrong package?
A medical malpractice case involving medication errors requires extensive investigation. In addition, it is also usually necessary to consult experts who can testify regarding the extent of the harm caused by the error. These types of cases can be very complex, so it is a good idea to begin working with an experienced attorney early on so they have time to investigate thoroughly.
When It’s the Fault of the Pharmacy
In some cases, the cause of the medication mistake is that the pharmacy mishandled your prescription in some way. Someone at the pharmacy could have:
- Put the wrong medication in the bottle
- Filled the prescription with medication of the wrong strength
- Failed to include information about drug side effects and interactions
- Included the wrong instructions
- Delayed filling the prescription so that you did not receive it when needed
- Stored the medication improperly so that it lost effectiveness or became contaminated
- Given you medication that was expired
In many cases, these actions could be medical negligence that rises to the level of actionable malpractice. However, proving the mistake and its effect on your physical and/or mental health can be a challenge.
When a Doctor or Other Healthcare Provider Could Bear the Blame
Someone in the doctor’s office, hospital, or other medical facility could be liable for the medication mistake. A nurse might have given you medicine that was supposed to go to a different patient or given your medication to another person. Or a staff member might have given you medication at the wrong time, causing either an overdose or consequences due to lack of necessary medicine.
One of your doctors might have prescribed the wrong medication or the wrong dosage. Or your doctor might have failed to consider other conditions you have or substances you were taking that could interact with your new prescription.
When Pharmaceutical Companies are Responsible
In some situations, medication problems occur even when medicines are correctly prescribed and administered. The problem could potentially lie with the company that produced the medication. They may have failed to perform adequate testing or hidden poor test results. They may have defects in the manufacturing process that cause a medication to be ineffective or dangerous. Or they could have failed to provide adequate warnings about side effects or drug interactions.
Investigating this type of medical error is not easy, but the harm caused by dangerous drugs can be deadly, so it is important to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible when they fail to take adequate precautions to protect those they are supposed to serve.
When Medication Mistakes Rise to the Level of Malpractice, We Work for Your Full Recovery
It can take some time to determine whether a medication error was based on factors that give rise to a legal remedy for malpractice. When the team at Ragain & Clark, PC is able to prove that the medication mistake was caused by a failure to exercise reasonable care and that it caused substantial harm to a patient, then we fight to ensure that those who have suffered receive full and fair compensation for their losses. When a medication mistake leads to wrongful death, we help families get justice and resources to meet their future needs.
If you’ve suffered harm due to a medication mistake, contact Ragain & Clark, PC, for a free consultation and case evaluation to find out whether we may be able to help you recover through a medical malpractice claim. To get started, call 307-388-6400 or contact us online now.
