Medication and Prescription Errors: Who is at Fault?

It is estimated that in an average 100 to 300 bed hospital in the United States, yearly costs in excess of $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 are attributable to prolonged stays and complications specifically due to medication errors.  Prescription or medication error is another common form of negligence committed by doctors and medical professionals such as pharmacists and hospital pharmacists and nurses.   Prescription errors can occur in commercial pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, doctor's offices and nursing homes.  They are probably the most successfully litigated forms of medical negligence and professional malpractice because the act of negligence is one of “res ipsa loquator” or it speaks for itself without more and cannot be readily contested by a defendant.

Mistakes that often cause prescription errors include (1) prescribing too much of a medication, (2) not properly considering the weight and age of a patient and (3) disregard of allergies or other complications that may affect the patient's health while taking the medication such as a patient who is taking other medications that cause adverse reaction when combined, (4) and someone with special health considerations (i.e. liver and kidney problems) that may be adversely affected by a wrong medication.  Prescribing a completely wrong medication for a patient will often cause other medical new and different medical problems that were not presenting before the error.

Children at Risk for Prescription Error

Children are especially vulnerable to prescription error because of their undeveloped immune systems and the resultant inability to tolerate chemical toxicity.  A medication for a child must be prepared with concern for his weight and age to determine the safest dosage.  A child's body lacks the ability to metabolize and tolerate toxic levels of medication and as a result children are at elevated risk for prescription errors.   It is estimated that one in every eighteen children who are prescribed a medication will be a victim of a prescription error and suffer some kind of injury due to that medication error.  At the opposite end of the age spectrum but also at elevated risk are patients in nursing homes and long term care facilities.  They  are also extremely susceptible to injury due to prescription errors.  It is generally recognized that rehab facility prescription errors routinely go undisclosed to unsuspecting patients and patient families and the resulting injury arising from such error may or may not be properly addressed and treated. 

Carelessness Causes Injury

In many cases prescription errors are caused by plain carelessness or “professional negligence.”   Illegible handwriting is the primary cause of prescription error.  The simple failure to write legibly on a paper prescription pad may result in severe and serious injury or death if a responding pharmacist wrongly identifies the medication or dose ordered due to illegible scribbles.  Many doctors now have electronic prescription pad to prevent just such errors.

Dangerous or Experimental Drugs

Prescribing dangerous medications or drugs known to be defective or experimental to a patient with warning the patient of the potential risks, harms and possible hazardous side effects is an act of professional negligence which falls below the accepted standard of care and will often form the basis of a successful medical malpractice lawsuit.   A physician or medical provider will be fully liable for carelessly prescribing the wrong prescription medication, failing to warn the patient of known risks of taking the drug and failing to warn the patient of all known adverse reactions that may arise to after taking that medication.

When to Talk to a Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you suspect that you have suffered an injury or illness caused by a prescription error, you would be wise to speak with a medical malpractice attorney to discuss your concerns regarding the medication and its adverse effects on your health.  The attorney may need to determine through the use of experts such as toxicologist reports whether or not you were carelessly given the wrong medication or the wrong dose of a medication for your age and weight and injured as a result.  This inquiry may need to include a determination that a mistake was made involving a prescription designating the wrong medication or that a medication was administered to the wrong patient and which caused some kind of detrimental result.  A malpractice attorney may need to collect all the medical and hospital records from the treating physician, healthcare facility and retail pharmacy and he may then consult with pharmacology experts who may be able to testify about the toxicity of that medication in view of the dosage prescribed and received.  There may be a consult with toxicologists who may be able to determine if it was ae pharmacist who made an error from a clearly written physician prescription.