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Health care professionals have extremely important jobs; however, they sometimes fail to adequately perform their job, resulting in a potentially fatal injury to the patient. If you have been injured due to the negligence of a health care professional, you may be entitled to compensation.
Our pharmacy malpractice attorneys are here to help you with your malpractice case and to answer any questions you have. Call (800) 863-5312 to speak with a Zinda Law Group attorney for a free consultation. Our knowledgeable lawyers may help guide you through the legal process to seek the maximum compensation available.
WHAT IS PHARMACY MALPRACTICE?
Pharmaceutical malpractice occurs when a pharmacist, or in many instances a doctor or drug manufacturer, fails to adequately perform their job. This malpractice may occur when a pharmacist fills out the wrong prescription, gives a consumer a defective drug, failed to warn the consumer of risks, or much more. Further, a doctor may be liable for pharmaceutical malpractice, for example, if he or she prescribes the wrong medication.
Pharmacy malpractice may result in serious injury or death. A study done by Johns Hopkins found that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical errors in the United States. Death due to medical mistakes has become the third leading cause of death in this county.
Pharmacists may make mistakes for many reasons, including working long shifts, being short-staffed, or being improperly trained. In 2018, CNBC reported an extremely sad case where a two-year-old girl lost her life after a pharmacy technician filled her intravenous bag with more than 20 times the recommended dose of sodium chloride. Through this case, it was found that many states have no requirements, or proof of competency, for pharmacy technicians, as opposed to well-trained and educated pharmacists and doctors.
If you have been injured due to a pharmaceutical mistake, or negligence, contact a Zinda Law Group attorney today. A Zinda Law Group pharmacy malpractice lawyer may help investigate your case and help guide you through the legal process.
EXAMPLES OF PHARMACEUTICAL MALPRACTICE
There are many types of pharmaceutical malpractice claims. This kind of malpractice may occur due to the negligence of a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional. Some examples of these types of negligence are outlined below:
Defective Drugs
Certain medications may be necessary for the wellbeing and safety of the entire population. However, if a drug was not thoroughly investigated or tested prior to releasing it onto the market, it may cause serious injury or death to a large group of people. It is no surprise, then, that failure to properly develop or manufacture a drug can lead to a pharmaceutical malpractice lawsuit.
Defective drugs may be put on the market due to the manufacturer improperly rushing safety testing to get the drug on the market sooner. In other cases, the manufacturer may know about the potential side effects, but choose to put the drug on the market anyway, and without warning doctors or consumers.
Prescribed the Wrong Medication
Doctors have a duty of care to their patients. Doctors may be liable for injuries resulting from prescribing the wrong medication to his or her patient. A doctor may prescribe the wrong medication due to his or her failure to do the proper research, a misdiagnosis, or the failure to consider reactions with other medications the patient is taking.
Filled the Wrong Medication
Pharmacists have an obligation to provide the consumer with the correct medication and dosage. If a pharmacist dispenses the wrong medication, or the correct medication in the wrong dosage, it may cause serious injury, or even death, to the patient.
There are many reasons why a pharmacist may make mistakes, such as being over-worked, reading the prescription wrong, or a lack of proper training. These reasons, however, are not enough to excuse the pharmacist from a pharmacy malpractice claim.
Did Not Warn of Risks and Long-Term Effects
A pharmacist is responsible for dispensing the exact medication a doctor has prescribed, as well as providing advice to the patient on how to take the medication, with its potential side effects. Some drugs have very serious side effects, and the patient has a right to know about these side effects before taking the drug. Some patients would choose not to take the drug if there was a chance of death or long-term effects, and that should be their choice.
A pharmacist has the obligation to ensure that all medications are properly labeled. This label must include all appropriate warnings, including the chance of any potential side effects, as well as a warning about interaction with other drugs.
If you have been injured by pharmaceutical malpractice, our pharmaceutical malpractice attorneys may fight on your behalf to get you the compensation you deserve.
HOW COMMON IS PHARMACY MALPRACTICE?
The rate of paid medical malpractice claims has dropped by 55.7% between 1992 and 2014. According to the Medical Malpractice Center, there are approximately 15,000 to 19,000 medical malpractice suits filed each year in the United States.
Adverse drug events often lead to malpractice claims. In one study, adverse drug events represented 6.3% of claims and were found to be preventable in 73% of the cases. Pharmaceutical malpractice is still a very prevalent type of medical malpractice. If you have been the victim of any kind of medical malpractice, our Zinda Law Group attorneys may fight for you. We have the experience necessary to negotiate on your behalf or stand up for you in front of a judge.
WHO IS LIABLE FOR PHARMACEUTICAL MALPRACTICE?
If you have been a victim of pharmaceutical malpractice, you may be wondering who is liable for your injuries. Zinda Law Group pharmaceutical malpractice lawyers may investigate your case and help you determine who is at fault in your malpractice lawsuit. Examples of who may be potentially liable for your injuries include:
Manufacturers
Pharmaceutical drugs are a necessary part of our lives. These drugs are a crucial part of our healthcare system and can be used to control pain, prevent disease, and cure illnesses. Manufacturers of these drugs have an enormous amount of power in providing life-saving medications; however, they can still make mistakes.
If a drug manufacturer put drugs out into society that are defective or cause long-term health problems, the manufacturer may be liable for the injuries they caused to the consumer. This makes sense, as a pharmaceutical company that manufactures and markets a drug that harms or kills people should be held responsible.
Doctors
Your doctor may be liable for malpractice if he or she prescribes an inappropriate medication. If a doctor does not adequately research a drug before prescribing it, the patient may suffer. For example, if a doctor prescribes two drugs that are actually harmful when taken together, that doctor may be liable for your resulting injuries.
Pharmacists
The pharmacist who filled and administered your medications may be liable for your injuries. Like doctors, pharmacists have a duty to provide care for the patients they provide medications. Sometimes, a pharmacist may provide incorrect medications. For example, many types of drugs have similar names. If a pharmacist mixed up the drug names, or read the prescription wrong, he or she could be liable for any injury resulting from that mix-up.
Further, a pharmacist may provide the correct medication, but the wrong dosage. This too can lead to serious injury or death. A pharmacist should be held responsible for any serious injury, or death, they caused due to administering the wrong medication, or the wrong dosage.
OUR NATIONWIDE PHARMACEUTICAL MALPRACTICE ATTORNEYS MAY HELP
If you have been injured due to the negligence of a health care professional, you may be entitled to compensation. Our personal injury attorneys may investigate your case. If we agree to take your case, we have the knowledge and experience necessary to negotiate on your behalf. If a settlement cannot be made, we may fight hard for you in court to get you the compensation you deserve.
Contact our experienced pharmaceutical malpractice attorneys at Zinda Law Group today. Call (800) 863-5312 as soon as possible to schedule your free consultation. You don’t pay a thing unless we win your case. That’s our No Win, No Fee Guarantee.
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