Kingston Pharmaceutical Malpractice Lawyer
When it comes to your healthcare, you expect a high standard of treatment. All medical professionals owe a strong duty of care to their patients. We hold doctors to these high standards because even minor mistakes can have serious, often deadly consequences for patients. Pharmacists are no different. Pharmacists give us drugs to ingest into our bodies; when they mess up, patients are in danger of literally poisoning themselves. If you or someone you care about has been the victim of pharmaceutical malpractice in New York, call a dedicated Kingston pharmaceutical malpractice attorney for help securing compensation for your injuries, your medical costs, and your pain and suffering.
Common Pharmacy Errors
Pharmaceutical malpractice can occur in a variety of ways. Below, the experienced pharmaceutical malpractice attorneys at Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner and Martuscello, LLP identify some of the most common types of pharmaceutical errors that give rise to malpractice claims.
- Failing to fully advise patients of drug risks. Pharmacists are required to properly advise their patients on the risk associated with a given medication unless the patient agrees in writing to waive their right to be informed. They must not only explain the short-term effects, but also any known long-term side effects. If a pharmacist fails in their duty to fully inform patients of known problems, then they are responsible for any undisclosed side effects that result.
- Issuing an incorrect dosage. Whether the doctor prescribed the wrong dosage, the pharmacist wrote down the wrong dosage, or the pharmacist made an error when filling the prescription or informing the patient, a dosage error can be just as deadly as giving the wrong drug to a patient. Too small a dosage can be ineffective in treating the illness, while too high a dosage can lead to overdose and other complications.
- Filling out the prescription incorrectly. One of the most common pharmaceutical errors occurs when the doctor is communicating the prescription to the pharmacist. The pharmacist may simply hear the doctor incorrectly, or write down the wrong thing–either the wrong drug or the wrong dosage.
- Failure to properly review a patient’s history.
- Failure to take drug interactions into account. Before a patient is given a prescription, their physician and pharmacist must take into account other drugs the patient is already taking. Many medications are perfectly safe on their own, but when combined with other medications, the interaction between the drugs can have serious, adverse effects.
- Mixing up patients. Pharmacists have many customers, and for one reason or another, they might give patients the wrong drug. A “minor” mistake by a pharmacist can mean serious injury, illness, or death for a patient. Pharmacists, unfortunately, commonly switch medications between patients by accident and put both patients at risk of severe harm.
- Mixing up drug names. In addition to patient names, pharmacists or staff can mistake one drug for another with a similarly-spelled or similar-sounding name. Different drugs have very different effects and uses, of course, creating a serious risk of catastrophic injury.
- Issuing defective drugs. Pharmaceutical products are constantly subjected to recall for newly-discovered (or previously-hidden) harmful side effects. Drugs that are defectively designed, inadequately tested, contaminated, or that carry insufficient warnings may give rise to a claim of pharmaceutical malpractice or pharmaceutical product liability.
If You’ve Been Injured by a Pharmaceutical Mistake, You Need to Act Fast
Every legal claim is subject to what is known as a “statute of limitations.” The statute of limitations is the time limit for bringing a claim for liability, typically a matter of years from the date of a given injury. The time limit varies depending on the type of claim and other circumstances.
In New York, the statute of limitations for a claim of medical malpractice is 2 ½ years from the date of the alleged negligent action or omission that led to the injury. If the treatment is ongoing, you have until the last date of your treatment to start the 2 ½-year clock. When the claim involves pharmaceutical malpractice, it can be complicated to ascertain when the statute of limitations period should begin. In order to avoid losing out on your rights due to a technicality, call a seasoned Kingston medical malpractice lawyer as soon as you can after discovering an illness or injury caused by a pharmacy mistake.
You may have a legal claim for injuries caused by a negligent physician
Seek the compensation you deserve for your medical expenses, income lost from missed work, and pain and suffering after being injured through pharmaceutical malpractice. Contact the experienced and detail-oriented Kingston pharmaceutical malpractice lawyers at Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner and Martuscello, LLP for a free consultation on your claims in Marlboro at 845-236-4411 or Kingston at 845-331-4100.
