Doctor Diagnosis Errors and Incorrect Medications
Medication errors happen too often. These errors occur in many ways. A doctor may prescribe the right drug in the right dose, but along the way a communication error might occur which results in the patient getting the wrong drug or the right drug in the wrong dose. Pharmacies misfill prescriptions at an alarming rate. A medication error may also occur when the doctor makes a bad decision and prescribes the wrong drug, the wrong dosage, or prescribes it at the wrong time. When a medication error is suspected, initiating an investigation by the patient or the patient’s family whether it was the result of medical malpractice is justified. At The Brad Hendricks Law Firm, we can help with that investigation.
Preventable hospital errors are now the third leading cause of death in the United States. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine published a widely cited study called “To Err Is Human.” In that study we learned that 98,000 people were dying every year from preventable errors in hospitals. Unfortunately, that study underestimated the number of deaths. According to a new study released by the prestigious Journal of Patient Safety, four times as many people die from preventable medical errors than we thought: as many as 440,000 a year. Medication errors are a big part of these preventable deaths.
Let our team of attorneys investigate your case if you believe one of the following has happened: the patient was given a drug he or she was allergic to; the patient was given a drug which conflicted with another drug; the patient was given a drug he or she did not need and it caused a serious problem; the drug order was in error for the patient; or the wrong drug or the wrong mix of drugs was put in an IV bag. Programming a drug pump with the wrong settings can cause serious harm. All of these errors may be preventable.
Preventing drug errors requires demanding and enforcing safety standards in hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics. Let us help you increase patient safety. If you think you were injured by a drug error, call The Brad Hendricks Law Firm to investigate your case at (501) 214-0998 or toll free at (870) 330-0475 today to arrange free consultation with one of our attorneys.
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