Prescription and medication mistakes
If your GP, nurse, pharmacist or other medical professional has made a prescription error that has made your condition worse or you developed another condition, then you or a family member may be entitled to compensation.
Serious injury or illness can occur if you or a family member has been prescribed the wrong medication or been given the wrong dosage. Prescription and medication errors can happen at any time during your treatment journey. For example, when the doctor issues your prescription, when the drug is being prepared in the pharmacy, or when you are given the drug by a nurse.
If your GP, nurse, pharmacist or other medical professional has made a prescription error that has made your condition worse or you developed another condition, then you or a family member may be entitled to compensation.
What kind of prescription and medication errors can occur?
There are many types of medication errors. Every patient is different, and each medication mistake will have its own set of circumstances, but there are a number of common errors that can occur during the prescribing and administering of a drug. These can include:
– Prescribing the wrong drug
– Prescribing the wrong dosage of the medication
– Continuing to prescribe a drug without regular check-ups and monitoring
– Giving out the wrong type of drug
– Mislabelling the type of medication
– Mislabelling the instructions detailing dosage
– Dispensing the wrong dosage of the prescribed medication
– Dispensed the wrong patient’s prescription
– Failure to give anti-clotting medication following surgery
– Failure to give anti-epileptic medication
– Failure to carry out regular check ups regarding patient’s medication
– Prescribing a drug that you or a family member are allergic to
– Prescribing a drug that should not be taken with other medication, which you or a family member are already taking
Whilst most prescription errors do not have serious consequences for the patient, the wrong medication or the wrong dosage can cause a condition to get worse and, in some cases, cause a new injury or illness. The impact can be physical as well as psychological, and even result in death.
What do I do if a suspect a medication error has occurred?
It is important that you quickly speak to a specialist solicitor with experience of dealing with prescription and medication compensation claims. The Serious Injury Helpline has a dedicated team who support families left to deal with life-changing injuries or illness as a consequence of a medication error.