Medication Errors Attorney in Pittsburgh, PA

One of the most important parts of seeking medical treatment involves obtaining the right medications. Medications are often the difference between getting well quickly and continuing to live with debilitating symptoms. In fact, failure to recognize medication-related errors can cost patients their lives. Unfortunately, this type of medical error happens every day, and when it does, patients will need the help of a seasoned Pittsburgh medication error lawyer to hold the physician, pharmacist, or other medical professional responsible.

Types of Prescription Drug Errors

Several common types of medication errors occur. Mislabeling the medication or administering incorrect dosages to a patient can cause severe illness, injury, or death. Additional types of medication errors include:

• Prescribing a medication to which the patient is allergic or failure to treat an allergic reaction
• Failing to warn a patient of side effects or appropriately respond to and treat serious side effects
• Prescribing medications that interact negatively with existing medicines the patient takes
• Administering incorrect medications for the patient’s condition

Prescription medication errors can occur because a physician did not diagnose a patient correctly or failed to consider the risks of certain symptoms. In these cases, medication errors can lead to patient wrongful death.  Call us to speak with a Pittsburgh medication error lawyer or fill out our online contact form today!

How Common Are Medication Errors in Pittsburgh?

Medication errors are more prevalent than most people think. Prescribing, filling and administering medications involves a chain of command, and if anyone makes a mistake in the chain, medications could be prescribed or administered improperly. Medication errors can stem from major mistakes like a misdiagnosis, or they could stem from something as simple as bad handwriting on a prescription.

A nurse might accidentally put too much medication into an IV line, or a pharmacist might mislabel a bottle of pills. Even the correct medication can be deadly if administered in the wrong place. For example, if a nurse injects medication into the muscle when it was meant for the vein, severe consequences could occur. The nurse could then be held liable by a Pittsburgh medication error lawyer in a lawsuit.

Medications interact with each other, and sometimes these interactions have severely negative consequences. Patients should be vigilant in sharing their medical histories, but monitoring medication is primarily the medical team’s responsibility. Doctors and pharmacists should always be aware of patients’ allergies as well as current drugs they take that might interact with a new one. It is also the doctor and pharmacist’s job to keep up with patient records and advise patients about their medications. Failure to do so often results in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pittsburgh Medication Errors

What is a medication error?

Medication errors refer to mistakes that occur in prescribing, dispensing & administering Medications. Preventable medication mistakes injure hundreds of thousands of people every year in the United States. We really have a medical malpractice crisis in our country. Most medication errors can be prevented.

What are the dangers associated with medication errors?

Various studies indicate that approximately between 7,000-9,000 people die each year in the United States from a preventable medication error. Further, hundreds of thousands of other patients experience injury as a result of complications from preventable medication errors.

Two of the more frequent types of medication malpractice are caused by the doctor ordering the wrong medication or an incorrect dosage of the right medication. Tragically, with certain medications, a small difference in the correct amount or a small difference in the correct frequency, can cause a devastating injury or death. For example, I have handled cases where small differences in the correct medication can cause the patient to die. For example, I handled a case recently where too much of the correct medication was administered to a young girl and that overdose caused her liver and kidneys to fail and she developed a very severe infection and ultimately died from organ failure within weeks of receiving the medication.

How do medication errors happen?

Medication malpractice can occur at various points along the patient care continuum. Medication errors can occur when the doctor orders or prescribes the wrong medication, medication errors can occur when the pharmacist misunderstands the prescription and fills the prescription with the wrong medication or an incorrect dosage of the right medication that results in an overdose. Medication errors can occur when the nurse administers the wrong medication or too much or too little of the right medication. Medication errors can also occur if the doctors and nurses fail to monitor the patient for adverse complications after administering the medication.

What should I do if I was injured as the result of a medication error?

If you have been seriously injured as the result of a medication error or if someone you love has been killed as the result of a medication error, please call my law firm, Matzus Law. We have extensive experience in pursuing medication malpractice cases against doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and nurses. We will perform a root cause analysis to determine if the medication error was preventable and whether you or your family can pursue a medical malpractice claim.