What is Pharmacy Misconduct?

If you have been harmed due to the incorrect actions of a pharmacist, you might not be sure what kind of negligence or malpractice has taken place. There are various requirements that must be met for each kind of malpractice or negligence to be the basis for a trial or settlement. You will want to be sure that you work with a skilled lawyer to help you to seek the compensation that you deserve for your injuries.

Pharmacy misconduct cases can be brought before the board and the pharmacist that harmed you can be held accountable for their actions. In some cases, the case might be elevated from a misconduct case to a more serious case after an investigation has been done. You will need the help of a skilled lawyer to make sure that your case is handled correctly.

If you want to learn more about what pharmacy misconduct is, read on!

What is Pharmacy Misconduct?

There are many legal terms that might be getting thrown around when you are first looking into the kinds of accidents that can happen to patients due to pharmacists who are not doing their job correctly. Between negligence, malpractice, and errors, you might not know which one to think that your accident fits into.

In some states, such as California, there is a further category called pharmacy misconduct. This takes place when a pharmacist or a licensed pharmacy has done something improper, and their actions are reported to the board. There is a list of items that can be reported to the board and then have legal action taken upon them under this heading.

The most common reasons that you could file a Pharmacy misconduct lawsuit are:

·         Pharmacist does not offer you, counsel, when you pick up your medication

·         Pharmacist is not present when people are picking up prescriptions

·         Non-pharmacist employee provides counsel for medications

·         Your patient confidentiality is broken in some way by the pharmacist or staff

·         The pharmacist seems unable to perform their duties due to impairment of some kind

·         Pharmacy is dirty, messy, or unsanitary in some way

You can see that some of these cases might be against the pharmacist while others would be against the pharmacy itself. Your lawyer can help you have an investigation performed to look into the reasons for your injuries to better determine this part of the process.

What is the Difference Between Pharmacy Misconduct and Negligence?

Negligence in the medical world is considered a slightly different category than misconduct. Misconduct is often reported to the Board for the state that the incident occurred in but might not be taken farther than this. Negligence cases often involve more significant injuries and are frequently brought before a judge if the injuries are severe enough.

Misconduct might not include willful neglect of patient needs like negligence and malpractice. When the person who is providing you healthcare services of any kind knowingly does not do their due diligence for each patient they are treating, this is a more serious offense than misconduct. Misconduct is based more on the assumption that the accident was caused by inadvertent neglect.

When negligence or the even worse category of malpractice is involved, the care provider who harmed a patient is accused of willingly and knowingly placing this patient in danger. These questions can be complicated in pharmacy cases because there are many people who handle a prescription before it gets into a patient’s hands and the hourly-work nature of this job can also muddy the waters.

Many cases of pharmacy misconduct are not based on a desire to neglect or harm a patient, but there are cases where the actions that are taken by a pharmacist are elevated to this level of accusation. 

Is My Doctor Responsible for the Error as Well?

If your doctor was also partially responsible for the injuries that you suffered, you might have to bring suit against them as well. Pharmacists are supposed to verify anything that is not clear with a doctor before they give out medication. When these checks and balances are not handled properly by both the doctor and the pharmacist, significant harm can happen to patients.

Your lawyer will know if there is a need to look at the actions of your doctor as well as the pharmacist who prescribed the medication that you were taking. Between handwriting issues and a lack of communication between doctor’s offices and pharmacies, injuries can happen that are quite significant. There are many cases where the doctor and the pharmacist have both failed in their duty to care for the patient, but there will need to be suits brought against the doctor and the pharmacist separately in these cases.

Patients who have been harmed due to a lack of care by medical professionals should be able to seek compensation for their injuries and their inability to work or care for themselves. Even if the doctor’s office states that they did not cause the accident, your lawyer will make sure that the investigation looks at the role of the doctor in your accident. 

Work With a Skilled Lawyer

Having the right counsel for your pharmacy misconduct or negligence case is critical. These are complicated cases that require a thorough investigation. In the case that a doctor is involved in a mistake that led to harm to a patient, a skilled lawyer will help make sure that this person is held responsible as well. It is not possible to handle these kinds of cases without help and you will want to be sure that you are working with a lawyer that has a lot of experience in these kinds of cases.

If you have been harmed through pharmacy negligence, you will need to work with a skilled lawyer to help you seek the compensation that you deserve. Reach out to us today to set up a consultation and we will help you to get your life back on track after your pharmacy misconduct accident.