What To Do If You Were Prescribed The Wrong Medication
When you have an injury, illness, or condition that needs improving, you naturally look to doctors and specialists for their expertise. As a rule, you are right to assume that their education, training, and experience give them the insight to prescribe the necessary medication to help you with your problems.
This is not always the case.
Sometimes wrongly prescribed medications can make an existing health issue far worse. Prescription medications must be specific to treat the condition they are to tackle. The actual medication, its dosage, and the duration you should take it are all crucial factors.
Prescribing the Wrong Medication
When a medical professional prescribes the wrong medicine, it can have horrendous consequences. Several aspects of the medication are important for your physician to consider to avoid medical malpractice for harming their patients.
Listed below are some of the ways that the wrong prescription can cause a patient harm:
- The wrong medication could be prescribed because a condition was misdiagnosed.
- Another problem could be that the prescription did not require the patient to take enough medication to be effective.
- Conversely, the doctor could prescribe too large a dose, causing other complications and side effects for the patient.
- Certain medications need to run their course to be effective. If they are taken for too long, they could be dangerous.
- Wrong medications can be an error made by a doctor, where they ordered one medication but meant another. This kind of mistake could lead to a patient’s condition worsening or not improving.
If you have experienced a negative impact from your doctor misprescribing a medication, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice claims can be difficult for those who suffered because of them. For a powerful advocate and peace of mind so that you may focus on your health and healing, reach out to Gattuso & Ciotoli, PLLC, for the help you need.
Other Prescription Problems
The medical professional who prescribed the wrong medicine to you is responsible if they made an error. The pharmacy could have made a mistake, meaning your doctor was not at fault, but your pharmacy was the problem. It could be the drug manufacturer.
You must determine who made the error. With the help of a skilled medical malpractice attorney from Gattuso & Ciotoli, you will have the resources to assess your physician’s mistake and help hold them liable for the injuries it caused you.
Demonstrating Medical Negligence
You must be able to prove that the medical professional that put the wrong medication in your hands is liable for the damages you incurred. Four elements must be proven for a medical malpractice case:
- You must demonstrate that your doctor’s treatment differed from the healthcare treatment widely used to treat your injury or ailment.
- Harm must be proven. If you were hurt because your doctor veered away from the typical line of care, most doctors would have used it to resolve your issue. You must be able to show this.
To prove that your standard of care was inappropriate, we will typically call on an expert witness to describe how the care should be administered. This expert witness ordinarily is someone with experience treating your issue who understands how care is customarily defined.
It must be shown that the physician failed to follow proper care protocols for your injury or illness.
Suffering Damages
You must be able to prove that you suffered damages because you did not receive the correct medication. This could mean the following:
- Your health problem escalated or worsened
- You have new health problems because of being misprescribed
- You had an allergic reaction that the physician should have anticipated
- A harmful drug interaction occurred because you were prescribed a medication that interacts negatively with something you already were taking or were prescribed.
You are entitled to compensation if your health worsens because the doctor prescribed you the wrong medication.
Pursuing Damages
If you believe you have been prescribed the wrong medication and have suffered, speak to one of our skilled attorneys with Gattuso & Ciotoli, PLLC, today. We can help you to decide whether you have a valid medical malpractice case and then pursue the compensation you are entitled to recover.