Pharmacy Errors Attorney

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is a government agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of foods, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and non-prescription medication, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), veterinary products and cosmetics. Drug companies can be held liable for pharmaceutical malpractice if they do not abide by the FDA regulations and their unsafe drugs cause injury, illness, serious side effects or death.

Pharmaceutical malpractice can originate from:

• The doctor prescribes a drug that conflicts with another medication you are on.
• The pharmaceutical company does not disclose health risks or side effects.
• The pharmaceutical company does not know the health risks or side effects because the company did not spend enough time on clinical trials.
• The pharmaceutical company falsified clinical trials results to make the drug more attractive to the consumer.
• The manufacturer produces defective drugs that have not been detected in the quality control process.
• The pharmacist fills your prescription with the wrong medication or incorrect dosage.

About Medication Errors

A medication error can be a catastrophic event for a patient who relies on the correct prescription. Drugs to control symptoms or prevent serious ailments such as heart attack or stroke are life-saving. Patients cannot afford mistakes at the hospital or pharmacy that put them at risk of taking the wrong drug, not getting the right drug, adverse medication interactions, allergic reactions, or overdoses.

Common types of medication errors include:

• A doctor failing to review a patient’s current medications
• A doctor prescribing the wrong drug
• A pharmacy misinterpreting a doctor’s handwriting
• A pharmacy filling a prescription with the wrong drug
• Pharmacy mixing up patients or prescriptions
• The nurse administering the wrong drug or dosage
• Dangerous drug interaction that should have been anticipated by the pharmacy and doctor

One of the most common ways medication errors occur is when a healthcare provider negligently fails to realize that a patient has a drug allergy or is taking another drug that will result in contraindication or a dangerous drug reaction.

This can occur when a doctor does not take appropriate time with a patient, does not adequately review medical records, or otherwise fails to take proper care in writing a new prescription. Other common errors occur at the pharmacy when pharmacists dispense incorrect prescriptions or drugs.