Error in preserving and administering medicine can be either the fault of the prescribing physician or the pharmacist. In most cases it is the physician themselves that are the driving force behind the error. Considering the highest number of malpractice complaints due to medication error, patients should be leery of dealing with their physicians from standpoint of blind faith.
Common Physician Errors
When most individuals think about medication errors that a physician can make, they will assume that is only those errors that deal with actual drug medication, yet this is not the case. Therapy and treatments such as transfusions can also fall within this liability. Here are some common medication errors that could lead to malpractice complaints:
- Malpractice complaints can result from a variety of physician errors including:
- Lack of knowledge about the characteristics of the medicine
- Failure to prescribe the correct dosage and time period for ingestion
- Failure to administer medication in the right way
- Failure to properly monitor the patient while they are taking the medicine
- Failures to take into account the patients’ medical history and/or current medical conditions.
- Blood transfusion related complications such as abdominal aortic aneurysms
- Failure to proscribe the property type of physical therapy
- Prescribing dangerous or defective drugs
- Prescribing medicine that is not appropriate for the patients condition
Physician Liability
In order for a patient to prevail in a cause of action against a physician they must prove the following:
- That the doctor had a duty to exercise reasonable care when prescribing or administering medication to the patient;
- That the doctor failed to exercise the requisite reasonable care;
- That the patient suffered injury, and
- That the doctor’s conduct was the proximate cause of the injury.
It should be noted that physicians will have certain defenses available to them, such as the lack of a patient/doctor relationship; reasonable care was exercised within the factual circumstances; that their conduct was not the proximate cause of the patient’s injury; or that the patient in some what contributed to his or her injury in some fashion.
Seek Legal Help
Only a licensed attorney in your area can assist you in obtaining a full recovery if you believe that you could be a victim of medical malpractice in the form of a medication error. Since medical malpractice is an area that is highly specialized you should seek and attorney who has medical malpractice experience. No matter what, just make sure you don’t go it alone.
