Roswell Medication Error Lawyer

Dedicated Roswell Medication Error Attorney

Medication errors can cause significant harm to patients, whether they happen at hospitals or local pharmacies. If you’ve been injured due to a prescribing, dispensing, administration, or monitoring error, a Roswell medication error lawyer can help you get the compensation you need to pay for associated medical bills, make up for lost wages, and move on with your life.

Work With The Tolson Firm, LLC

The team here at The Tolson Firm, LLC, has been practicing medical malpractice law for years. In that time, we’ve developed a keen understanding of how to leverage medication error laws to our clients’ benefit. We know how to negotiate effectively with insurance companies and when to take a case to court to realize its full potential. You can trust a Roswell medical malpractice lawyer from our team to help you with every aspect of your medication error case.

Reasons to Hire a Medication Error Lawyer

The reported rate of medication errors in hospitals is around 6.5 per 100 admissions. Overall, around 1.3 million Americans experience injuries due to medication errors each year, and preventable medication-related adverse events lead to between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths per year.

If you’re one of the many people who has been impacted negatively by a medication error, you can hire a medication error lawyer to help you file a claim against the provider responsible for the mistake that led to your injury. Your attorney can handle all of the details of your claim, from filing paperwork and gathering evidence to negotiating with insurance companies, so that you can focus on healing from your medication-related injuries.

Elements of a Medication Error Claim

Medication error claims are a type of medical malpractice claim. These negligence-based legal actions have four main elements:

1. Duty of care. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers owe patients a duty of care. They must provide care that is in line with the accepted standards of their field.
2. Breach of duty. When a doctor writes a prescription for the wrong medication or a pharmacist fills a prescription incorrectly, those actions are considered a breach of their duty of care to you as a patient.
3. Causation. Medication errors can cause serious injuries and illnesses. You must prove that your symptoms were caused by a prescribing, dispensing, administration, or monitoring error.
4. Damages. You must show that you suffered compensable harm as a result of the medication mix-up.

Your attorney can help you gather evidence and hire expert witnesses to testify on your behalf.

Types of Medication Errors

There are four places in the chain of care where medication errors can occur. They are:

1. Prescription. The doctor writing the prescription makes an error in the type of medication prescribed, its dosage, or how often it must be taken.
2. Distribution. The pharmacist receives a correct prescription but makes an error in filling it that leads to an incorrect medication or amount being dispensed to the patient.
3. Administration. A nurse administers a medication incorrectly, often by giving the wrong drug or using the wrong administration route.
4. Monitoring. A nurse fails to monitor the patient for adverse effects following the administration of a medication in a hospital or clinical setting.

Medication errors can occur in hospitals like North Fulton Medical Center or at local pharmacies. Identifying the type of medication error that occurred is essential for determining who is liable for any harm that resulted from it.

Common Errors Made in Hospitals

Common medication errors include prescribing, dispensing, or administering:

• The wrong medicine
• A drug to which the patient is allergic
• A medication that is likely to have harmful interactions with others taken by the patient
• A medicine that might worsen another medical condition
• The correct medicine at the wrong dosage or frequency

Failures to warn patients about risks and side effects can also be considered malpractice, and signing a consent form does not cancel that out.

Statute of Limitations for Medication Error Claims

Georgia has a two-year statute of limitations for all medical malpractice claims, including medication error cases, though when that clock starts running can depend on when the injury was discovered. You shouldn’t wait until this deadline is approaching to hire a medication error attorney in Roswell. Instead, contact our office as soon as you’ve been medically stabilized. Doing so can help you avoid common mistakes and make it easier to collect evidence in support of your claim.

FAQs

Who Is Legally Responsible for Medication Errors?

Parties who can be held legally responsible for medication errors include prescribing doctors, dispensing pharmacists, administering nurses, healthcare facilities, or drug manufacturers. To determine who to hold liable for any damages you suffered as a result of a medication error, you must identify where in the care chain the error occurred.

What Is the Average Settlement for a Medication Error?

There is no such thing as an average settlement for a medication error because every case is different. Settlement amounts vary based on factors such as the severity of the injuries caused by the medication error, the extent of your financial losses, and whether you have clear proof of negligence as the cause of the medication error.

Can a Nurse Get Fired for a Medication Error?

A nurse can get fired for a medication error, but most hospitals look at systemic issues rather than single mistakes when deciding to terminate an employee. Nurses are more likely to be fired for medication errors that involve gross negligence, break the facility’s fundamental safety policies, or cause severe patient harm.

What Are the Four Types of Medication Errors?

The four types of medication errors are prescribing, dispensing, administration, and monitoring errors. The first type of error occurs when a doctor writes an incorrect prescription. The second occurs when a pharmacist does not dispense a prescription correctly. The third happens when a nurse fails to deliver the correct dose, while the fourth occurs when they do not monitor the patient appropriately afterward.

Your Roswell Medication Error Lawyer

If you’re looking for a Roswell medication error lawyer to take on a tough case, you can turn to The Tolson Firm, LLC. Lead attorney Audrey Tolson is a proud Black attorney who has faced down large hospitals and other medical facilities on behalf of her clients, advocating for their rights and helping them get the compensation they deserve. Find out how our team can help with your medication error case. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation today.