Victim of Pharmaceutical Error?
Talk to a San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer
Remember that all health care practitioners are held to a high standard. We, as patients, implicitly trust our physicians to look after our health. However, when pharmaceutical error occurs, your health is placed at risk. In the most serious cases, pharmaceutical error can cause lifelong illness, or can even be fatal.
That is why you should call The McClellan Law Firm to take action and hold those who have harmed you accountable. We are distinguished, award-winning trial lawyers, who have experience winning cases for clients. We have secured million-dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of over 140 of our past clients.
If you were given the wrong prescription or were misdiagnosed by a doctor, you have the right to take legal action. Call The McClellan Law Firm at (619) 215-1488 for a free case consultation.
What Constitutes a Pharmaceutical Error?
Pharmaceutical errors can take many forms, and due to the complex nature of drug distribution, it can be difficult to understand who is liable for your injuries. However, as experienced San Diego defective drug attorneys, we understand the process and can hold the right parties accountable for their actions.
For example, some drug-related injuries are the fault of the drug itself. Manufacturers have a responsibility to make sure their drugs are safe for use and are clear about their side effects. Manufactures are also responsible to make sure that they advertise responsibly—for example, Bristol-Meyers Squib wrongly marketed an antipsychotic to children and the elderly and eventually paid half a billion dollars to settle their suit.
In addition, pharmacists have a responsibility to remain vigilant of known harmful drug interactions. If you were harmed as a result of taking multiple drugs that react poorly together, your pharmacist should have given you sufficient and clear warning before fulfilling your prescription. In the same way that you have the right to trust the expertise of your physician and nurses, you have the right to trust your pharmacist.
Here are examples of pharmaceutical error:
- Prescription Errors: These occur when healthcare providers prescribe the wrong medication, the wrong dosage, or fail to consider potential drug interactions or allergies.
- Dispensing Errors: Mistakes made by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians when preparing and dispensing medications to patients. This could involve dispensing the wrong medication, incorrect dosage, or incorrect labeling.
- Administration Errors: Errors that occur when medications are administered to patients. This can include administering the wrong medication, incorrect dosage, or using the wrong route of administration (e.g., intravenous instead of oral).
- Documentation Errors: Errors in documenting medication orders, administration, or patient information, which can lead to confusion or mistakes in subsequent stages of the medication use process.
- Monitoring Errors: Failures to monitor patients for adverse effects or therapeutic outcomes of medications, which can result in delayed detection of problems or lack of intervention when necessary.
- Communication Errors: Miscommunication between healthcare providers, patients, and caregivers regarding medication information, instructions, or changes in treatment plans.
- Medication Reconciliation Errors: Errors that occur during the process of reconciling a patient's medication list when transitioning between healthcare settings (e.g., from hospital to home care), leading to discrepancies or omissions in the patient's medication regimen.
- Drug-Drug Interactions: Occur when two or more medications interact in a way that alters their effects, leading to unintended consequences such as decreased efficacy or increased toxicity.
- Look-Alike/Sound-Alike Medications: Medications with similar names or appearances that can be easily confused, leading to prescribing, dispensing, or administration errors.
- Overdose or Underdose: Administration of too much or too little medication, whether due to errors in prescribing, dispensing, or administration.
Most prescription drugs should have clear warning labels display side effects and other potential hazards. Not every drug is perfect, and some may not even deliver on its promises. If you take a drug to reduce cholesterol, for example, and the drug had worsened your cholesterol levels, then you may have a defective drug case.
Work With a Firm That has Decades of Trial Experience
Pharmaceutical companies are enormous institutions. Their profits exceed the size of the most nation's annual GDP—when they make mistakes, individual people pay the price. At The McClellan Law Firm, we have experience facing large opponents in court. We do not fear them because we have years of skill, insight, and results facing them in court—and winning. When you work with us, you are in experienced hands.
It is unfortunate that many of these pharmaceutical errors can be traced either to doctor or pharmacist negligence. This is why you should discuss your case with our San Diego injury lawyers. We believe in finding not only fair but also favorable solutions for our clients; we refuse to quit until you are rightfully compensated.
Do not stay silent if you were injured due to pharmaceutical error! Call a San Diego personal injury lawyer at The McClellan Law Firm and tell us about your case during your free case evaluation.
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