Medication errors are one of the most common and preventable forms of medical negligence in healthcare today. These errors can occur at multiple points in the treatment process and can cause devastating harm to patients who trusted their medical provider to deliver safe and appropriate care.

If you were injured or a loved one was killed because of a medication error, the medical malpractice attorneys at Robenalt Law can identify who was at fault and fight to hold the negligent medical providers accountable for the harm they caused.

Common Medication Errors

Medication errors can take various forms, including ordering the wrong medication, dispensing the correct medication at the wrong dose, or failing to account for how a medication will interact with other drugs or supplements a patient is taking. Each type of medication error represents a breakdown in the standard of care medical providers owe to their patients. When medication errors occur, patients can suffer devastating consequences that can include longer hospital stays, medical complications, organ damage, brain injury, and even wrongful death.

Ordering the Wrong Medication

Medication errors can occur when a medical provider orders the incorrect medication, or when a pharmacist misreads or misinterprets the physician’s order and provides the wrong drug to the patient.

Dispensing the Incorrect Dosage

A misplaced decimal point or illegible handwriting can cause a pharmacist to provide the correct medication but in an incorrect dose.

Miscommunication Between Healthcare Providers

In some settings, multiple medical providers administer drugs to patients. When patient records are unclear or are not up-to-date, the patient may receive the wrong medication, or the correct drug but in a harmful amount.

Failure to Obtain a Complete Medical History

Taking the patient’s medical history is a fundamental and routine part of patient care. It includes learning about the medications the patient is currently taking and the medications they may be allergic to. In other situations, a medication may have dangerous side effects for patients with a particular medical condition. Failure to learn about the patient’s medications, allergies, and medical conditions could put the patient’s health at risk.

Not Providing Adequate Instructions

Some medications are affected by when or how they are taken. For example, eating food can limit the effectiveness of some medications, while others should not be taken on an empty stomach. Similarly, consuming alcohol while taking certain medications can have harmful, even deadly side effects.

Overlooking Harmful Drug Interactions

Many drugs interact with other prescription and non-prescription medications or supplements. Combining them can have dangerous and harmful side effects.

Incorrect Labelling or Packaging

Incorrect instructions, dosage, or other information can have dangerous and potentially harmful consequences.

Common Causes of Medication Errors

Medication errors can be caused by various factors, including breakdowns in communication between healthcare providers, or by overworked, overwhelmed, or inexperienced medical providers working in high-pressure situations. For patients, the impact of these errors can be devastating and can lead to postponed treatment, inappropriate medical care, or harmful drug interactions.

Poor Communication

Poor communication can contribute to medication errors at critical points in the patient care process. Communication errors are common in emergency care settings, at transition points when patients move between care teams or from one level of care to another, and between physicians and pharmacists. These communication failures can lead to incorrect or delayed medical care that can have harmful, even deadly consequences.

Emergency Room Errors

Medication errors in hospital emergency rooms are not uncommon. ER doctors work under constant stress, often with inadequate sleep and in rushed environments. Distractions can lead to inattention, failure to devote adequate time to patient diagnosis and care, an incomplete medical history, or misdiagnosis.

Administrative Issues

Medication errors can occur when patients and prescriptions transition from one care team to another. Common administrative errors include a prescription that never makes it to the pharmacy, physicians making inaccurate assessments leading to incorrect orders, a pharmacist dispensing the wrong medication, the pharmacy failing to fill the prescription, or medications with similar names being confused and substituted for one another when dispensed.

Can You Sue for a Prescription Error?

When patients are seriously injured or killed because of a prescription error, the negligent party must be held accountable. However, determining what happened and why can be challenging.

Patients and the families of individuals who were harmed by prescription medication errors deserve justice and accountability. The medical malpractice attorneys at Robenalt Law can investigate the cause of the medication error and fight to hold negligent doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical providers accountable for the harm they caused.

Contact Robenalt Law Today

Robenalt Law has offices in Cleveland and Columbus, and handles medical malpractice claims throughout Ohio and nationwide. Call our Cleveland office at (216) 223-7535 or our Columbus office at (614) 695-3800 or contact us online to schedule a free, confidential, no-obligation appointment to discuss your situation and how we can help.