Medication errors can happen at the hands of a number of individuals within the medical community. Many times, the errors are at the hands of pharmacists who may accidentally fill the prescription with the wrong medication, or there may be a flaw in the directions. Other times, doctors can prescribe the wrong medication. This happens when the doctor may write a prescription without looking at other prescriptions it may interact with or a particular allergy that a patient may have.
Furthermore, the wrong medications can be delivered to individuals in hospitals and nursing homes. Perhaps a medication meant for someone else is given to a patient. No matter how the wrong medication or dosage was given, the consequences can be overdose, allergic reactions, interactions between medications, or death. Even some conditions can be worsened if the wrong medication is given.
If you have had a loved one who has died as the result of a medication error, you most likely have a legal claim against the responsible parties. Your Minnesota medication error death lawyer can help you determine this by evaluating what happened.
While pharmacists are well trained and are required to be exact in their methods, mistakes can happen. Unfortunately, many pharmacists work too many long shifts. While this is not an excuse, being overworked can result in an error that can cause a fatality. They do have a responsibility to patients to make sure the prescriptions are correct and that the instructions are placed on the label in a way that the patient can clearly understand.
While hospitals and other facilities can have in-house pharmacies or pharmacists, the errors are not always due to pharmacist error. If a nurse has to administer medication to a number of patients and those medications are taken from the pharmacist all at once, it is important that the utmost care is exercised to ensure that each patient receives the right medication at the right dose. If the nurse hands the patient in room 10A the blood pressure medication that belongs to the patient in room 11B, and room 10A’s patient already has issues with low blood pressure, the patient in 10A could suffer severe consequences or even death from the sudden drop in blood pressure.
The above scenario is unacceptable and is cause to have an attorney to file a lawsuit against the responsible parties. Being that 10 percent of prescriptions are not filled correctly in some way, something needs to be done to ensure these errors are reduced.
Medication errors are unacceptable, as they can cause severe injury and even death. Medical professionals are to take great care when administering medications so that patients can benefit rather than become even sicker or die. The Meshbesher Law Firm will evaluate the details of your case, such as who administered the medication, the exact error that was made, and how it affected you or your loved one. Call us at 612-349-5215 for a free consultation.
