Studies show that millions of Americans have dispensed the wrong dosage of common medications every year. These instances of pharmacy error can lead to significant harm as well as death. There are many reasons that drugs are dispensed incorrectly in the US each year and common problems such as short staffing, lack of attention to detail, and issues with doctor’s handwriting can all be reasons for pharmaceutical errors.
Another possible factor that contributes to pharmacy error each year is PCEs. Understanding what this term means and how it affects the dispensing of medications can help you to understand how pharmacy errors might have happened. If you have been the victim of a pharmacy error, you might not know what your best options are to seek compensation for your injuries. You will always need to know what caused your injury and PCEs might be to blame.
PCEs are pooled cohort equations. These sums are used as part of the process of prescribing drugs and this is the kind of information that is used to help determine the right dosage of common medications like aspirin, statins, and blood pressure medications.
These PCEs help calculate each patient’s risk of stroke or heart attack. This information helps determine the dose that people are given of each medication. This is a part of making reasonable medical decisions for doctors and pharmacists alike, but there are flaws with this method.
The accuracy of PCEs has been called into question recently and many experts are starting to inquire about whether or not the data that they are based upon is outdated. Patients that are being given medications at a dosage that is not based on current facts could be at severe risk for major health risks or even death.
Some of the information that is included in these PCEs is from the ’40s. This means that diet, age, lifestyle, and many other factors have never been figured into the calculations as times have changed. People did not live as long in the ’40s as well, which can impact the overall accuracy of the calculations.
Other issues that plague this set of data points is that there are very few African American patients represented in the data set that the PCEs are based on. This makes it very difficult to be sure that you are prescribing the right dose of medication for the African-American population. This comes into play with particular force when dispensing heart medications as African-Americans are more prone to certain heart conditions than other groups.
The trouble with using a data set that is out of date is that it is very easy to dispense medication at the wrong dose to patients. While healthier patients with fewer co-morbidities might be able to tolerate some variances in dosing without much noticeable effect, the more fragile patients that are being treated with these medications might be at severe risk of negative reactions and also drug interactions with other medications that they are taking.
While some generalized information is needed to guide basic dosing decisions, the person’s height, weight, and co-morbidities and existing medications that they are taking have to play a role in the decision about which dose of a medication to give to them. Doctors and pharmacists alike who rely too heavily on PCEs could be exposing their patients to great risk.
This is particularly true for minorities who are not represented in the data set that is being used for these basic dosing determinations. If your lifestyle and your ethnicity do not line up with the original data set closely, then you will likely be at risk for complications to your health as well as being at risk for more serious implications related to a possible issue with the dose of the medication that you have been given.
While some efforts are being made to adjust the information that is used to create these datasets, you will find that there has been little real momentum to correct these issues. PCEs could always be an underlying reason for the injuries that you have suffered as a result of an incorrect dosage of a medication that was dispensed to you. Being able to prove this can be hard, but with the right team of legal experts on your side, it is possible.
There are always a lot of variables that go into determining medical malpractice and you should not assume that your case will be able to be tried as such. You will have to be able to prove that your pharmacist relies too heavily on this flawed data structure to help choose the right dosage for your medications and it would be more likely that your doctor would be the one who was found to be at fault for the incorrect dosage of medication being given to you.
You will find that there are still avenues for you to seek compensation for your injuries when you have been harmed through pharmacy error. You will need to work with a skilled personal injury lawyer, but there is almost always a way to seek compensation for your injuries related to PCEs and their inability to correctly dose people.
If you have been harmed through pharmacy negligence related to PCEs, you will need to work with a skilled personal injury lawyer. Your lawyer and their team will make sure that a full investigation is done into the circumstances surrounding your injuries and they will help you to get the compensation that you deserve.
Being able to get the support of a skilled legal team when you have been the victim of pharmacy error or negligence is very important. Contact us today for a free consultation. We will help you get the compensation that you deserve for the injuries that you have suffered.
Pharmacy errors can cause death or significant health concerns. If you think that you have been harmed due to a
Pharmacy negligence results in 1.5 million injuries to people in the US each year. These errors happen in the hospital
Pharmacists are required by law and by definition of their duties to provide specific care to their customers and patients
