Medical Malpractice: Understanding Medication and Pharmacy Errors

Medication and pharmacy errors can lead to grave consequences for the victim. In this blog post, we discuss these errors, the distinct roles of physicians and pharmacists in the process, and liability when errors occur.

If you are navigating the complexities of a New Orleans medical malpractice case, guidance from an experienced malpractice lawyer, like those at Dudley DeBosier, is essential for securing the compensation and justice you deserve.

Medication Errors

Medication errors are a serious subset of medical malpractice cases. These cases take many forms, and can result from a variety of circumstances, including:

• A patient being unable to give a medical provider a complete and accurate medical history due to their illness
• A pharmacy filling a prescription incorrectly
• A physician making an error in judgment and prescribing or ordering an inappropriate medication
• Mistakes made by a fatigued or overworked medical team
• A simple clerical or administrative mistake

Regardless of the circumstances, a medication error can be deadly, and when a medication error occurs, the only smart thing to do is to have a personal injury lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice review your case.

Why Do Medication Errors Happen?

When some patients come to the emergency room, they may have many worrying symptoms and be taking multiple medications. In these situations, it’s really important for the physicians to get a complete and accurate medical history. This helps them identify any potential allergic reactions and helps other physicians who will take care of the patient later, as they rely on the initial information in the patient’s records.

To get this detailed history, the physician might need to talk to the patient’s regular physician, talk to the patient’s family members, and gather information from other sources. They may also need to look at the patient’s past medical records available in the hospital’s system. Making sure all these details are correct is crucial because medical mistakes can happen when there’s missing or incorrect information about the patient’s medications and medical history.

The reasons why medication errors occur can be broken down into 3 main categories:

1. Lack of Patient Information
2. Communication Failures
3. Special Patient Groups

Lack of Patient Information

Not having enough information about a patient is a big reason why medication mistakes happen. The physician who is treating the patient has a responsibility to do their best to get accurate information that is important for the patient’s treatment. Sometimes, this means they need to investigate and gather the necessary information.

For example, picture a patient coming to the emergency room with obvious signs of an allergic reaction to a medication. The patient might be unconscious and unable to tell the physician what medicines they have been using or if they have recently started taking something new. In such cases, the physician may need to contact the patient’s other healthcare providers or the pharmacist who knows more about the patient.

Communication Failures

Communication failures play a part in almost every medical malpractice case. Information is communicated in the healthcare setting in strange ways:

• End-of-shift reports are passed between nurses and physicians.
• Information is entered into both paper and electronic charts that are only accessible to other care providers who actively seek it out.
• Imaging results and other studies are communicated in an initial reading and later more formally in a written report.

At every step, there are opportunities for information to be lost, misunderstood, or omitted. For example, a communication failure can occur when:

• A patient’s clinical status is not accurately reported, perhaps after an overnight shift.
• Data is seen as trivial and not passed on.
• Information from another healthcare provider is taken for granted as being correct and not double-checked.

Special Patient Groups

Medication mistakes can also occur because every patient is different. Older people, young children, and those with kidney problems or chronic conditions process and handle drugs differently. Even gender can affect how a drug is processed in the body. That is why it is important for a physician to look at each patient as unique when deciding how much medication they should receive.

The Role of the Physician vs. the Pharmacist

When discussing medication and pharmacy errors, it is important first to understand the relationship between the physician and the pharmacist, and what a pharmacist does and does not do.

The Physician

The role of the physician arguably involves more moving pieces than the role of the pharmacist. For instance, a physician will do the following:

• Perform a physical examination of the patient
• Take a history from the patient, and perhaps the patient’s family, to identify known or potential drug allergies
• Identify current medications the patient is already taking
• Obtain informed consent
• Place orders as part of the patient’s treatment, including medication orders

The Pharmacist

The pharmacist’s job is a little more complicated than just blindly following the physician’s orders to fill a given prescription. For example, what if the prescription is written for a dosage of medication that is dangerously high? What if the prescription is written for a dosage that is simply outside the recommended dosage range? Does the pharmacist have an independent duty to warn the patient, obtain his own version of informed consent, or discuss the risks, benefits, and alternatives of a specific treatment option?

Liability for a Pharmacist Error

The potential injuries in cases involving a pharmacy error can be catastrophic. Unfortunately, like most medical malpractice cases, liability for a pharmacy error is rarely clear-cut. In most medical malpractice cases involving a pharmacy error, there will be a component of medical liability for the prescribing physician or medical facility, as well as for the pharmacy and pharmacist.

Why It’s Important to Discuss Your Case With an Experienced Malpractice Lawyer

Pursuing a medication or pharmacy error case involves all the same requirements as other medical malpractice cases. This includes going through the medical review panel process before filing suit, retaining appropriate experts, meeting the burden of proof regarding the standard of care and complicated causation issues, and having the financial resources to afford the great cost of pursuing a medical malpractice claim.

The best advice for anyone who believes they or a loved one have been injured as a result of medical malpractice in New Orleans, be it a medication error, pharmacy error, or any other medical mistake, is to discuss the issue with a personal injury lawyer who has experience in this area of law and the resources to pursue a medical malpractice claim effectively. By working with the right malpractice lawyer, New Orleans malpractice victims have the best chance of recovering compensation for the pain and suffering and financial losses they have endured.

Contact an Experienced New Orleans Malpractice Lawyer at Dudley DeBosier

The New Orleans medical malpractice attorneys at Dudley DeBosier have a vast amount of experience working on cases that involve pharmacy and medical errors. Our law firm provides aggressive and compassionate representation to all clients. Don’t hesitate to call us to schedule a free case evaluation. We are dedicated to helping medical malpractice victims protect their rights and recover the compensation they deserve.

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