According to WHO statistics, 11% of all EU citizens claim to have been prescribed the wrong medicine. Medication errors cause more than one million serious injuries or deaths in the United States every year.

Medication errors are generally preventable and are a type of medical malpractice. A medication error can occur at any point in the prescribing process from the time the medication is administered to the time the medication is taken. Most of the time, the error is made by a nurse or doctor, but sometimes a pharmacist makes a mistake in filling the prescription.

According to international data, the most common error that resulted in a fatality was administering an inappropriate dose of medication. These cases accounted for 41% of fatal medication errors, while administering the wrong drug or using an inappropriate route of administration resulted in 16% of medication errors.

Prevention of medication errors
It is important for patients to pay close attention to what their doctor or pharmacist tells them about the medication they are taking, the correct dosage and any dangerous side effects. A patient should ask questions if there is any aspect of the instructions that they do not understand.

Patients should inform doctors of the names of all prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and herbal, vitamin or general dietary supplements they are taking to avoid potentially dangerous interactions between medicines.

Can you be compensated for harm to your health from a medication error?
A bad reaction to a medication is not necessarily a medication error. Instead, the error must have been preventable in order to be actionable. A medication error must also be the actual and proximate cause of an actual harm that must be pursued. A patient cannot bring a claim for a medication error that does not result in actual harm.

Physicians must understand their patients' conditions in order to avoid complications or dangerous drug interactions. A doctor has a duty to advise a patient of any drug risks so that an informed decision can be made.

When a doctor fails to warn a patient, he or she will be held responsible for the error. Similarly, a doctor may also be held liable for prescribing the wrong drug, for prescribing the wrong dose or failing to take into account that a patient has an allergy to a component of the drug.

A patient who suffers harm from a medication error can also bring a medical malpractice case against a nurse, pharmacist, or hospital that makes a mistake in filling a prescription for the medication. When a pharmacist gives incorrect instructions to a patient, dispenses the wrong medication, or mixes medications that should not be mixed, he or she may also be held liable.

Among the damages a plaintiff can recover are past and future medical expenses, lost profits, pain and suffering. If a patient dies due to a medication error, his or her loved ones may also be able to support a lawsuit.

Please note that there are time limits for filing your claim so if you are concerned about a medical error issue, please contact us directly and discuss your case with us, with no obligation or financial commitment. You can also set up a meeting through our secretariat at +30 210 6452133

For more information on how we deal comprehensively with the issue of medical malpractice see here
More specifically on the issue of misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis see here
For the issue of wrong or late diagnosis of cancer see here
For how to claim compensation from clinics and hospitals see here

For medical errors in pregnancy and obstetrics see here
More generally, for medical surgical errors see here
More specifically for medical errors in plastic surgery see here