Wrongful Death Accident Lawyer

Medical malpractice cases are notoriously complex. In essence, medical malpractice is when a health care provider is negligent or provides substandard care, resulting in injury or death to a patient. From a legal and medical standpoint, however, many details and specificities come into play when determining who, exactly, is at fault for causing harm or death.

One scenario that raises questions about how far medical malpractice may reach is the instance in which a doctor prescribes the wrong medication. Is there a valid claim that a healthcare provider has been negligent, causing a patient harm or death? If so, can the patient be compensated for his or her time and money? If the patient has died because of the wrong medication, the surviving family may be entitled to bring forward a case on behalf of their loved one who was taken before their natural time.

Common Prescription Drug Errors

Determining if any of these errors constitute medical malpractice requires a deeper dive into the details of the specific scenario. As a wrongful death accident lawyer from Cohen Injury Law Group, P.C. has seen before, when it comes to prescribing drugs, some of the most common errors include when a health care provider:

• Mislabels the medication 
• Fails to warn the patient of possible side effects
• Administers the wrong medication 
• Prescribes the patient a medication that he or she has an allergy to 
• Prescribes the patient a medication that will counteract with other medications he or she is taking 
• Includes the wrong instructions for taking the medication to the patient 

Determining Who Is At Fault

One major detail that must be determined early on is who is actually at fault. A doctor can certainly make the mistake of prescribing the wrong medication. However, a pharmacist can also fill the wrong prescription or provide the wrong dosage, a drug manufacturing company can provide the wrong product, and a nurse can administer the wrong dosage. To file for medical malpractice, it must first be proven who exactly acted negligently.  

To do just that, the medical standard of care must first be established. All this means is that the level of care that should be taken by a healthcare professional must be determined, often by another doctor in the same field with similar training. After this is decided upon, the patient and an expert witness must show how the doctor did not reach the medical standard of care, as well as how exactly the wrong prescription caused harm.

Due to a statute of limitations, there is a strict deadline for when someone can file a medical malpractice claim. If you were prescribed the wrong medication, administered an incorrect dose or were caused harm in any other way due to a prescription drug error, contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Those who lost their loved one because of a possible medication mistake are encouraged to find out if what their relative went through constitutes filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.