That’s right; more than 7,000 people die each year due to pharmacies making serious medication errors. To put this in perspective, more people die from medication errors every year than die from AIDS or car accidents. There are probably more people killed or permanently injured, as well as temporarily harmed
by pharmacy errors, than statistics show. There is no federal regulation that requires pharmacies to report their errors so error reporting is sporadic at best.
According to a spokesperson for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy this number is only expected to rise as the number of pharmacists shrinks and the number of prescriptions goes up, as it has every year for the last ten years.
I will show you that even if you recovered from the error in a week or a few days you may still have a valid claim to sue the pharmacy that injured you. Such claims serve not only in your own financial interest, but they also serve to deter future errors that could harm others. The take away point is that corporate America does not hear you unless you affect their pocketbook.
Whether the pharmacy switched labels on your medications, gave you another customer’s medication, or they were ultimately responsible for a loved one’s death, there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your family.
You may wonder why there have been so many errors in recent years in pharmacies. The reasons are simple and disturbing:
I have not written this to vilify pharmacists. They are good people, but they are overworked by greedy corporations who don’t care that fatigue and poor working conditions contribute to medication errors by pharmacists and technicians alike.
The fact remains that there is no acceptable reason for 7,000 people to die every single year because of pharmacy errors. Medication mistakes are occurring at an alarming rate because companies don’t want to pay the cost of hiring additional pharmacists. Having one pharmacist on shift, and three or four technicians, keeps costs down and profits up. If we do not complain about this hidden epidemic, it will continue to worsen. If companies are not forced to face the terrible damage they have caused by
their own negligence, medication errors are going to skyrocket and the companies will not change. Our complaints and our lawsuits will give them the incentive to change their policies.
Learn how you can take action if you or a loved one have been injured by a pharmacy medication error.
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Pharmacists are required by law and by definition of their duties to provide specific care to their customers and patients