Prescription medications play a crucial role in the health of countless Canadians. They place their trust in healthcare professionals to ensure they receive the correct medications and dosages. Even a small lapse in judgment by a pharmacist or other healthcare provider can lead to far-reaching and detrimental consequences. This article is your guide to understanding the legal recourse available to you when you’ve suffered harm due to a prescription drug error.
What are prescription drug errors?
A prescription drug error is a preventable mistake in the administering, monitoring, or dispensing of medication, which causes a patient to suffer injury.
Prescription drug errors often occur when a health professional (a) administers medication that is harmful to the patient or (b) provides an incorrect amount of medication leading to adverse health outcomes for the patient.
Here is a list of failures that may constitute a prescription drug error:
- Inaccurate order transcription.
- Inadequate patient education regarding their prescriptions.
- Failure to obtain a patient’s allergy history.
- Unavailability or inaccuracies in patient information.
- Improper dispensing of medication.
- Lack of proper medication monitoring.
Where do prescription drug errors occur?
Prescription drug errors often occur at pharmacies. The high volume of medications processed by pharmacists and their staff increases the risk of prescription drug errors.
However, prescription drug errors are not limited to pharmacies alone. They can occur in a range of healthcare environments. Failures can occur at hospitals, in nursing homes, and even within the confines of a patient’s own home if a healthcare professional provides in-home medication services.
Why do prescription drug errors occur?
Most prescription drug errors are caused by human error. It is relatively easy for a health professional to misread a patient’s prescription and provide them with the wrong dosage. Reports indicate up to 75 percent of medication errors occur when a health professional is distracted. This underscores the importance of being focused and attentive when administering medication.
Here is a list of frequent causes of prescription drug errors:
- The wrong type of medication is dispensed;
- The medication is provided to the wrong patient;
- The patient is allergic to the medication;
- The medication is given at the incorrect time;
- The wrong dosage is administered;
- The effect of the medication is not monitored; and
- The interaction of the medication with other drugs is not accounted for.
The Elements of a Prescription Error Legal Case
A health professional can be sued in negligence for committing a prescription drug error. For a claim to be successful, four elements need to be met:
First: The health professional must have owed a duty of care to the injured party. If the injured party was a patient of the professional who committed the error, then a duty of care is established.
Second: The health professional must have fallen below the standard of care expected of them. In a prescription error case, the injured party must show that a reasonable healthcare professional would have administered the correct drug at the correct dosage.
Third: The patient must have suffered injury and damages.
Fourth: The patient’s injury must have been caused by the medication error. If a prescription drug error occurred, and the patient has an injury, but there is no connection between their injury and the drug error, then the claim will not be successful. The prescription drug error must have adversely affected the patient’s health and wellbeing.
What to Do if You Have Been Injured Due to a Medication Error?
If you or someone close to you has been harmed as a result of a prescription drug error there are legal options that are available to you. The first step is to document what occurred. If you were prescribed medication that you are allergic to, did the health professional ask you about your allergies? If you were given the wrong dosage of a medication, did the health professional have concerns about the amount of drugs they were administering? Having detailed notes, photographs, and other evidence will support you in your claim.
The next step is to contact an experienced lawyer to help you assess your case. At BIMMA, we have a team of knowledgeable lawyers who can help you. We offer free consultations, and would be more than happy to speak to you about your case. We will be in your corner every step of the way! Contact us today at +1-902-425-7330 or toll-free at +1-800-465-8794.
