Understand Your Legal Options After Being Injured By A Medication Error
In the interest of preventing misuse and harmful medication errors, laws have made it so that many pharmaceutical drugs can only be accessed through physicians and pharmacists. Unfortunately, prescription errors can and do happen frequently, committed by the very professionals tasked with medication safety. Depending on the drug, the patient and other factors, these errors can be injurious or deadly.
At Shevlin Smith, P.C., our attorneys are committed to seeking justice and compensation for patients who have been injured by prescription errors and the negligence of physicians and pharmacists. If you or someone you love has been impacted, our attorneys can protect your rights and help you exercise your legal options.
When And Where Do Prescription Errors Commonly Occur?
Medication errors can occur at any point in the prescription and administration process. Liable parties may include the prescribing physician, the nurse or other staffer administering the drugs in the hospital, and the pharmacist filling a prescription. There are many opportunities for dangerous errors, including those related to:
- Giving or ordering the wrong dose of medication
- Giving/ordering the wrong medication, often because it sounds similar to another drug or orders were filled out incorrectly
- Failing to check for patient allergies to certain drugs or their ingredients
- Failing to prevent a dangerous drug interaction with another medication that the patient is already taking
- Giving the patient a prescription intended for someone else
- Failing to warn of risks for harmful side effects
- Failing to conduct a thorough medical history to determine if a certain drug is too dangerous for a patient (based on things like compromised kidney or liver function, for instance)
- Giving or ordering unnecessary drugs
It was long thought that the adoption of electronic health records and prescribing software would alleviate these problems. Unfortunately, errors are still common and can have devastating or deadly consequences.
We conduct in-depth research to determine what factors led up to the error and who was at fault. We then advocate aggressively to establish liability and to maximize your compensation.
We Are By Your Side From Day One
After being the victim of a large and impersonal medical system, the last thing you should have to deal with is a law firm that treats you the same way. You won’t need to worry about that when you hire Shevlin Smith, P.C.
We have intentionally limited both the size of our firm and the number of cases we take to ensure that clients receive personalized attention, direct access to their attorney and a thoroughly prepared case. We will be here for you from start to finish.
Want To Learn More? Contact Us Today For A Free Case Evaluation.
From our office in Fairfax, our firm serves clients throughout northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. To discuss your case with one of our attorneys for free, call us at 703-634-7350 or reach out online.