Baltimore Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Compensation for Medication Errors
Modern medication holds much promise for suffering patients. But those hopes can come crashing down when hospital negligence results in a prescribing or dispensing error causes harm to you or your family. At LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton, P.A., our Maryland malpractice attorneys have experience with numerous forms of medical malpractice, including medication errors such as:
- Dispensing errors — Nurses on rounds, especially in high-volume facilities, may neglect to give a medication to a patient or forget to chart a dose that is given. When patients get their medications in an inconsistent manner, they gain little benefit and may suffer increased side-effects.
- Drug interactions — Prescribers and pharmacists should note possible interactions among the drugs a patient takes. Many known interactions are potentially fatal.
- Outdated medication — Injectable epinephrine and many other drugs have a very short shelf life. Dispensing an outdated drug denies the patient the full potential benefit and may even do harm.
- Side-effects — Prescribers should be well-versed in the medications they specify for their patients and weigh the risks against the benefits, taking into consideration the capacity of their patients to tolerate known side-effects.
- Spoiled medication — Many drugs, especially blood derivatives, require special storage. For instance, a lapse in refrigeration can rob certain drugs of their potency, so even if they are administered properly, they may have little or no effect.
- Wrong prescription — Patients don’t always get the medicine the prescriber intended. A physician may scribble the order, causing the pharmacist to mistake the order for another drug. Or the pharmacist could simply reach for the wrong bottle.
- Wrong prescribed dosage — A prescriber might order a drug at too low a level to be effective or at such a high level that it is toxic to the patient.
Medication errors like these can cause additional harm by confusing healthcare providers about the reason for a patient’s failure to recover, leading to misdiagnosis.
Tracing the Medication Error to its Source
Identifying a medication error and discovering who is liable requires in-depth investigation. At LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton, when we say we’ll fight for you, we mean we’re willing to do the tough work of poring over records and interviewing witnesses. We do everything necessary to establish the cause of your injury and hold negligent healthcare providers accountable.
Contact the Baltimore Medical Malpractice Law Firm of LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton With Questions About Compensation for Medication Errors
LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton, P.A. fights aggressively for patients harmed by medication errors. We operate on a contingency fee basis for all injury cases, so you pay nothing for our services unless we obtain a damage award from the defendants. Contact our Baltimore law office online or call 800-547-4LAW (4529) to schedule a free consultation with one of our Maryland malpractice attorneys.