Both over-the-counter and prescription medications have the ability to change a patient’s experience and health outcome. From helping to alleviate pain to actually treating a disease that could otherwise be fatal, making sure that patients get the medication they need is critical. Unfortunately, medication errors are a leading cause of adverse patient outcomes and one of the most common types of medical malpractice. If you have been impacted by a medical professional’s malpractice, call our attorneys at the law office of MichieHamlett today for a free consultation.
Common Types of Medication Errors
The following are some of the common types of medication errors:
- Medication administration errors (administering too much of a medication, too little of a medication, administering the medication at the wrong site, etc.);
- Wrong-patient errors;
- Wrong-medication errors;
- Prescription and dosage errors;
- Medication reaction errors (giving a patient a medication that they should not be taken in combination with another medication that the patient is currently on);
- Instruction errors; and
- More.
These errors are often the result of miscommunications between doctors and others in the hospital, such as nurses; patient chart mix-ups; failing to properly read a patient’s chart or investigate their medical background; confusing two like-sounding medication names, bad handwriting on a patient’s chart, and more.
Who’s Liable for a Medication Error?
When a patient is the victim of a medication error and suffers an adverse health outcome as a result, they deserve to be compensated. This requires investigating the case to determine what happened and who’s to blame. Potentially liable parties might include:
- The doctor who prescribed the medication in error;
- The nurse who administered the medication;
- The hospital where the medication was given;
- The pharmacist who filled the prescription; or
- The manufacturer of the medication if the medication was defective.
Our lawyers can investigate your case to determine against whom you should file a claim and how you can prove that malpractice has occurred.
Act Quickly to Recover Damages
If you bring forth a claim for medication errors and can prove that malpractice occurred, you can seek damages for your economic losses (i.e. medical bills and lost wages) and your noneconomic losses (such as pain and suffering). However, you must do so within the statute of limitations – the legal limit on the amount of time you have to file a claim. The statute of limitations in most Virginia medical malpractice cases is two years from the date of the malpractice. Act quickly to preserve your right to damages.
Call Our Charlottesville Medication Errors Attorneys Today
If you’ve been the victim of a medication error, you deserve to be compensated in full for your losses. At the law office of MichieHamlett, our Charlottesville medication errors attorneys are here to help you when you have suffered harm at your doctor’s hands. To learn more about your rights to file a claim, how to get started, and the role of our legal team, please call us today or send us a message online to request your free consultation.