PRESCRIPTION ERRORS COMPENSATION
With over 600 million prescriptions being issued by doctors every year it comes as little surprise that patients sometimes receive inappropriate medication. The General Medical Council estimates that as many as 10% of all prescriptions are in error as a result of mistakes made by doctors, pharmacists, technicians or nursing staff. Prescription error can be an extremely serious matter with numerous fatalities attributed to medical negligence caused by avoidable mistakes most of which involve dispensing and administration of medicines. The most common prescripion error relates to administration of the wrong dosage however there are also numerous instances of hospital inpatients receiving medication intended for another patient.
COMPENSATION HELPLINE 0845 177 0929
Medication Errors
There are a number of scenarios relating to prescription error that may result in a successful compensation claim for medical negligence including :-
- Allergic Reaction - a patients medical notes may indicate an allergy which is ignored by medical staff resulting in a severe life threatening allergic reaction.
- Incorrect Dosage - this may result from a doctors error or an error in dispensation by a pharmacist who should in any event notice a clear prescription error by a doctor. Most dangerous is children being prescribed adult dosage in error.
- Extended Medication - medication may be prescribed for an inappropriate period of time causing unintended physical damage. In particular repeat prescriptions need regular consultation.
- Incompatibilities - all medicines come complete with a contra-indications sheet which outlines incompatibilities with other medicines which should always be considered by doctors and pharmacists when prescribing and dispensing pharmaceutical drugs.
COMPENSATION HELPLINE 0845 177 0929
Free Advice
Most specialist medical negligence solicitors will give very substantive free advice to establish whether or not you may have a potential medication error compensation claim that is worth pursuing. Don't rely on what you read here or on other websites when you can get free qualified advice for the cost of a phone call.