Pharmacy Negligence & How to Prove It
Pharmacy errors are a form of malpractice or medical negligence. Medication errors occur when the pharmacy or a medical provider gives you the incorrect medication or too much or too little of the medication that you have been prescribed.
A dosing error may occur when you are given the wrong strength of the right medication, and receiving too much or too little can negatively impact your treatment and recovery.
A prescription medication should contain a label that identifies the name of the medication you have been prescribed and the amount you are required to take. If a pharmacy were to label the medication incorrectly, it could have serious, even fatal, results. Incorrect labeling can also overlap with dosing errors when a label improperly instructs you to take the wrong amount of medication.
Pharmacy errors may also occur when the pharmacy dispenses the incorrect medication. A pharmacy technician who does not have the same skill and education as a pharmacist might fill the wrong prescription. The label may be correct, but the actually medication may be incorrect. You may receive the wrong medication because the doctor’s handwriting is illegible or the pharmacy misread the prescription.
Pharmacy negligence must be proven. You must prove that your injuries resulted from the medical personnel’s carelessness when your medication was dispensed. To help prove negligence, you must preserve evidence for your case, which would include the following:
A copy of the actual prescription written by your doctor;
The actual pill bottle or package the medication was dispensed in; and
The written documents or package inserts from the pharmacy.
Having this evidence will help determine whether your pharmacist was, in fact, negligent.
If you feel that you or a member of your family has been a victim of pharmacy malpractice or medical negligence or if you just have inquiries, please contact the Spencer Law Group for a free consultation. Our experienced attorneys are ready to take on your medical malpractice case.