A medical malpractice claim can arise in a number of different circumstances. Any phase in a patient’s treatment is vulnerable to negligent action or inaction by medical professionals and could lead to the patient suffering harm as a result. For instance, errors in prescription medication are actually very common in medical malpractice claims. Prescription errors are a pervasive problem across the country. The problem is most likely even more pronounced than we are aware of because some cases go undocumented. Prescription errors can have devastating, even fatal consequences for patients. For patients who have been the victim of a prescription error, they may be able to bring a medical malpractice claim seeking compensation for their damages.
What Prescription Errors Constitute Medical Malpractice?
To bring a successful medical malpractice claim, the following elements must be established:
- There must have been a medical relationship: This means that you must be able to show that the individual you are bringing a claim against was responsible for your medical care. Establishing this relationship means that the medical professional owed you a duty of care because you were a patient.
- There was negligence on the part of the medical professional: You must be able to establish that the doctor or other treating healthcare professional was negligent in providing you with medical treatment. This is established by proving that the professional failed to uphold a reasonable standard of care. The professional must have failed to act in a way that a similarly situated medical professional would have acted under the same or similar circumstances.
- The negligence resulted in a problem: There must be a causal link between the problem suffered by the patient and the negligent action or inaction on the part of the treating healthcare professional.
- The problem caused by negligence was the reason for the patient incurring specific damages: The patient must be able to prove damages. In other words, there must be proof that the patient suffered actual harm as a result of the negligence.
Any prescription errors that fall in line with the above elements means that the patient may seek compensation through a medical malpractice claim.
Prescription errors leading to medical malpractice claims can result in oversights such as a failure to take into account the age, weight, and body type of the patient. In other cases, a prescribing doctor may have failed to take into account the patient’s medical history or note any allergies the patient may have. Other prescription drug errors that often lead to medical malpractice claims include:
- Administering the incorrect medication
- Administering the incorrect dosage of medication
- Mislabeling medication
- Failing to warn of common side effects of medication
Many different medical professionals may be held liable in a medical malpractice claim. It may be a doctor, but it may also be a nurse, pharmacist, pharmacy, or hospital. The specific acts and circumstances of the case will determine who is liable in a medical malpractice claim.
Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you have been the victim of a prescription error that led to you needlessly suffering, you may be entitled to compensation through a medical malpractice claim. Talk to the dedicated team at Hunt Law Firm. We fight for our client’s legal right to receive full and fair compensation for the harm they have suffered. Contact us today.