The attorneys at the Brannon Law Firm handle medical malpractice cases, including those involving medication or drug errors. Medication or drug errors made by medical professionals can serve as a basis to bring claims for medical malpractice and medical negligence. If you have experienced a medication or drug error and have been injured it is in your benefit to seek out more information. Information on what medication or drug errors are and what it might mean for you can be found below. Additionally, the Dayton medication error attorneys at the Brannon Law Firm invite you to contact us, either at 937-228-2306 or 1-800-VERDICT for a free consultation to see if you may have a claim for a medication or drug error.
What are Medication or Drug Errors?
In today’s medical world, it is not uncommon for individuals to depend on various medications and/or drugs to assist in their everyday life, battle diseases or conditions, or even keep them alive. However, this reliance can be a serious problem when there is a medication or drug error. When a medication or drug error occurs it can cause serious injury, illness, and even death. Medication and/or drug errors may occur for a variety of different reasons.
One reason may be the medication or drug itself. This may be because the manufacturer created the medication or drug improperly. There may be a flaw in the design of the medication or drug, an error in the manufacturing process, or an implementation factor that the manufacturer forgot to take into account when creating the medication or drug. It may also be because there was insufficient testing of the medication or drug. This may mean that all instances of the particular medication or drug are defective or that a single individual medication or drug is defective. Some examples of medications or drugs that were defective include Zoloft, which created birth defects in some children, Yaz, Yasmin, or Orcella birth control pills, which sometimes caused blood clots and strokes, and Vioxx, which was tied to increased risks of heart attacks and stroke.
Another reason may be that a prescription for the medication or drugs was filled improperly. Errors in filing prescriptions can happen, often resulting in a patient receiving the wrong medication or too much/little of the correct one. Receiving the wrong medication or drug is dangerous because the patient’s condition or illness requiring the medication or drug is not being treated. Additionally, the incorrect medication or drug may be harming the patient, either due to negative side effects or due to the harsh or damaging nature of the drug itself. Too much of the correct medication or drug can result in overdose. While to little of the drug will not be effective for treatment of the patient’s condition.
Example of Medication or Drug Errors
A medication or drug error can also occur from being improperly prescribed or administered by the doctor or medical professional. Examples of this include the following:
- Failing to administer any medication at all
- Failing to prescribe the proper medication
- Administering the wrong amount, often causing drug overdose
- Administering the medication or drug incorrectly
- Failing to gain a full medical history to detect possible adverse reactions to the medication or drug
Medications and drugs are complex. Patients rely on their doctors to prescribe the correct dosage. This requires doctors and medical professionals to be sure that the medications and drugs they are prescribing are warranted by the patient’s situation or condition. Doctors need to be sure that they have the correct diagnosis before prescribing the medication and/or drug. It requires that the amount of medication or drug prescribed is correct. It requires that the doctor or medical professional ensure that the patient won’t have an adverse reaction to the medication or drug due to allergies or other medications or drugs that patient may be taking. If a doctor or medical professional does not correctly prescribe medication or drugs, the consequences can be severe and may even result in death.
FDA Approval Process
Medications and drugs are classified, controlled, and regulated by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is important for several reasons. First, this means that medications and drugs must go through an approval process set by the FDA before being made available for use. This ‘pre-market’ process is rigorous, requiring the manufacturers to prove that the medication or drug is safe and effective. Most manufacturers will conduct testing in order to ensure the medication or drug is working as intended and is in fact helpful and will not harm patients. However, testing in both the laboratory and the clinic can only go so far and may not be able to catch everything. Oftentimes, tests may have too few subjects, or important information may only become available at a later date, after the medication or drug is approved for sale. The FDA’s approval process is a good thing, but it does not create a 100% guarantee of safety.
Second, this means that when a medication or drug is found to be unsafe or dangerous, part of the response is handled by the FDA. Manufacturers are responsible for informing the FDA when they discover a medication or drug is not working as intended. Often, this will prompt the FDA to issue a recall of the medication or drug, in an effort to prevent any more potential harm from being done. While an FDA recall is not a guarantee of negligence or medical malpractice, it is important for users of medications and drugs to be aware of, so that they may take steps necessary to protect themselves. A lawyer will be better able to discuss the particulars in a client’s individual case and circumstance to determine how this may affect them.
Medical and Legal Significance of Medication or Drug Errors
Medication or drug errors may form the basis to bring a claim for medical malpractice and/or medical negligence. These instances often occur when a doctor or medical professional has done something incorrect in the diagnosing, prescribing, and handling of a medication or drug. It is the responsibility of doctors and other medical professionals to properly prescribe medications and drugs by following the rules for patient safety. If doctors and medical professionals follow the rules for patient safety it will prevent medications and drugs from causing harm to patients. Where medications and/or drugs are utilized in a correct manner a patient may be able to bring a claim for medical malpractice or medical negligence.
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If you have suffered an injury due to a medication or drug error you may be able to bring a claim for medical malpractice and/or medical negligence. The Dayton personal injury lawyers at the Brannon Law Firm have the skill and experience to discover whether your health issues are a result of a medication or drug error. Medical malpractice and medical negligence is preventable. It is caused by the error, improper action, or lack of action by medical professionals. It is important to hold those medical professionals to the proper standards of care and to hold them accountable for the harms and losses they cause. The Brannon Law Firm can help hold those at fault accountable.
Additionally, your medical treatment from the medication or drug error may be difficult, both financially and emotionally. In addition to the illness or condition that required the medication or drug in the first place, you may now have to deal with the injuries or negative effects of the medication or drug error. Efforts to fix or reverse the negative effects of a medication or drug error can be severe and long lasting, requiring additional medical treatment, loss of quality of life, loss of income and costly medical bills. It is important to ensure you have the assistance and care that you deserve to live the best life possible. The Brannon Law Firm can help with that process.
At the Brannon Law Firm, we have represented many individuals who were unfortunate victims of medication and drug errors. We have obtained favorable verdicts and settlements on behalf of clients in medication and drug error cases. We invite you to contact us, either at 937-228-2306 or 1-800-VERDICT for a free consultation. The Brannon Law Firm is proud to serve clients in Dayton and throughout the State of Ohio.