Pharmacy Errors in Houston: Medical Malpractice

Prescription Mistakes Harm 90 Million Patients a Year

Three billion prescriptions are dispensed to Americans each year. With the meteoric rise of new drugs hitting pharmacy shelves, prescription errors are fast becoming one of the most common forms of medical malpractice. Pharmacy errors lead to drug litigation when patients suffer adverse drug reactions and interactions.

Filling a doctor's prescription should signal the beginning of recovery for a patient. However, if a pharmacist fails to ensure you have the right medication, the right dose, that you're not allergic to the medication, and you have been instructed on the drug's use, you can come to very serious harm. Pharmacists are often the last medical professional you see before you take your medication; when they fail in their duty to protect you, they can be held liable for the damages caused by their negligence. If you have been given the wrong medication, dosage or otherwise come to harm through a pharmacist's medical negligence, you will want to consult with a Houston personal injury attorney to determine your rights to recover from your losses.

Some common pharmacy errors include:

• You were given the wrong medication, causing adverse drug reactions and interactions.
• You were given the wrong dose, causing over- or under-medication and adverse reactions.
• Dispensing medication to you without updating your known drug allergies.
• Dispensing a new drug without checking on adverse interaction with current medications.
• Dispensing medication without instructions, especially when the drug is new to you.

It is especially important to safeguard children from prescription errors. Due their smaller size an adult dosage given to a child can result in serious illness and injury. Further, it is vital to ensure a parent administering the drug fully understands how to do so.

Steps You Can Take to Prevent Injuries from Pharmacy Errors

The first steps you can take are preventative:

• Read the label! Is that your name? Is that the medication your doctor actually described?
• Read the label again for the dosage. Is it the same dose your doctor advised?
• Look at the pills! Especially when you refill a medication, make sure the pills are the same as those you took before.
• Carefully go over dosage instructions with your pharmacist.

Research has found that 90% of all prescription errors are preventable. If you are the victim of Contact-Us.ASPX

If a pharmacist was negligent by giving you the wrong medication or the wrong dosage and you have suffered injury or illness as a result, contact a Houston medical malpractice attorney.