Examples of Pharmaceutical Malpractice

Even though it’s the pharmacist’s job to prescribe the right medication to ensure their customers are safe, pharmaceutical malpractice happens more than you might think. Pharmaceutical malpractice is whenever someone experiences injury or death as a result of a pharmacy’s negligence.

Many people experience pharmaceutical negligence without even realizing it – often when the effects are harmless. However, pharmaceutical negligence also has the potential to lead to serious injury, hospitalization, and even death and can be grounds for malpractice.

If you have ever experienced pharmaceutical negligence and had adverse side effects as a result, it’s important to understand what pharmaceutical malpractice is. Understanding this can help you determine if you have a case. Below are the most common examples of pharmaceutical malpractice.

Negligence or Malpractice?

Two terms that you will see often in the context of pharmaceutical error is negligence and malpractice. Although these two terms are related, they are not the same. It’s important to understand the distinction between these terms so you fully understand what challenges you are facing.

Pharmaceutical negligence is whenever your pharmacy fails to meet the standard of care through inaction or action. Malpractice goes a step further. Malpractice happens whenever that pharmaceutical negligence leads to injury, hospitalization, or death.

All four of the examples below are technically examples of negligence. These examples then become malpractice if the patient has adverse side effects as a result.

Let’s look at an example to understand the distinction between negligence and malpractice:

If you receive someone else’s medication but realize the mistake before taking the medicine and don’t take it as a result, you have been the victim of pharmaceutical negligence.

In the case that you did not catch the mistake, took the medicine, and suffered from negative side effects from the negligence, you have been the victim of pharmaceutical malpractice.

Dangers Associated with Pharmaceutical Negligence

Pharmaceutical negligence is a serious issue that can lead to deadly side effects. In some cases, pharmaceutical negligence results in minor side effects, such as a rash, upset stomach, drowsiness, or nausea. In more serious circumstances, it can lead to overdose, deadly drug interactions, hospitalization, and death.

Even in cases where the side effects are not too severe, it is still pharmaceutical malpractice. Although the symptoms may not have been severe for you, others may not have the same experience. As a result, it’s critical to treat all examples of pharmaceutical negligence and pharmaceutical malpractice seriously.

Examples of Pharmacy Malpractice

Giving the Wrong Medication

It is the pharmacy’s job to make sure that the medicine they provide to their customers is correct. If the pharmacy provides the wrong medication, the customer can have serious side effects, including allergic reactions, overdosing, and death.

There are many scenarios to explain why the wrong medication is given. For example, some prescriptions have similar names, making it easy to mix up the medicines. It is also possible for a pharmacist to give a patient someone else’s prescription. This often happens when patients have similar names.

Less common is a pharmacist misreading a doctor’s prescription. This happens most often when the prescription is written down on a doctor’s note, but it can also happen with electronic prescriptions.

In all of these scenarios, the result is the same: the patient receives the wrong medication, which can lead to adverse side effects. It’s critical that all pharmacists critically examine their drugs to ensure they provide the right medications.

Giving the Wrong Dose

Another example of pharmaceutical malpractice is providing the wrong dose of medication. In some cases, getting the wrong dose of the medicine is absolutely harmless. However, there are some medications where precise dosing is critical.

If the pharmacist provides too much or too little of the medication, the patient could have serious side effects. Having too little of the medication can cause them to experience the same symptoms as before. In comparison, having too much of the medication can cause an overdose. Both scenarios can lead to malpractice.

Not Giving Correct or Thorough Instructions

To ensure that the patients take the medications correctly, pharmacies must print instructions on the medication. These instructions must correctly inform patients how to take the medicine. This includes how much needs to be taken, when, whether it needs to be taken with food, or if it can be taken while pregnant.

If a pharmacist fails to put any instructions on their medications, that can trigger pharmacy malpractice. Likewise, providing incorrect instructions can as well.

Not Reviewing Medication with Patient

The last example of pharmaceutical malpractice is failing to review the medication with the patient. To ensure that the patient understands the medicine they are taking, the pharmacist must go over the medicine, the dosage, instructions, and side effects.

It’s also the pharmacist’s job to make sure that the patient does not have any allergies or drugs that would negatively impact the taking of the prescribed medication.

What To Do If You’ve Experienced Pharmaceutical Malpractice

Pharmaceutical negligence and malpractice happen all the time. Whether you get your medicine filled at a large chain pharmacy or mom-and-pop storefront, you may find yourself the victim of pharmaceutical negligence and suffer as a result.

If you or a loved one have experienced pharmaceutical negligence or malpractice, it’s important to act. No matter if the side effects are minor or severe, pharmaceutical negligence and malpractice is a serious problem, and the pharmacy should be held accountable for their actions.

Although the side effects may have been minor for you, the same cannot be said of all patients who experience pharmaceutical negligence. It is for this reason that pharmaceutical negligence and malpractice of all kinds should be handled with utmost care.

If you or someone you love has suffered because of any one of the examples above, contact Kennedy Law Firm today for a free case review.