I Have Been Harmed By A Pharmacy Error. What Do I Do Now?

If a pharmacy dispensed the wrong medication or made any mistake with your prescription, and, as a result, your health or a loved one’s was negatively affected, you have the right to file a claim for negligence or malpractice. This type of claim falls under “personal injury law.”

NOTE: Each state has different laws governing personal injury cases; therefore, the guide below is general information. No two cases are the same. You should contact a board-certified pharmacy attorney to determine the facts of your case. Our office is always available for you at 713-425-6445 for a free case review.

So what exactly is “Pharmacy Negligence”? It can happen in several ways, at any stage of the prescribing and dispensing process. Here are a few examples:

• Wrong medication
• Wrong dose – Overdose/Underdose
• Incorrect dosage instructions
• Entering incorrect patient information
• Entering incorrect dosage units
• Failure to recognize dangerous drug interactions
• Incorrect prescription labels
• Lack of pharmacist supervision of technicians
• Lack of proper technician training
• Failure to counsel patients

How Do I Make a Claim?

First, save every medicine bottle, label, package, prescription, receipt – everything related to the case. Once you’ve gathered these items, the next step is to contact Kennedy Law Firm, LLP, to have an attorney investigate your particular circumstance. The initial call we have is called an “intake” call. During this call, the attorney will listen to you describe what happened in your case, and collect the contact information of the people and entities involved.

Once the attorney decides you have a case, he/she must send a letter of representation to the pharmacy and open up a claim. The attorney will order your medical bills and records to obtain additional evidence to support a request for lost wages. The attorney will then start negotiating your claim after putting together a settlement package.

What Are My Costs To Hire a Pharmacy Error Attorney?

Kennedy Law Firm doesn’t charge any upfront fees for investigating a case and the initial consultation. We work on a contingency fee basis. Meaning, that if we do not obtain a recovery, you do not owe us anything.

How Long Does The Process Take?

As we mentioned above, every case is different, so there is no simple answer. And there are a few things that affect how long a pharmacy claim case can take. Such as:

• The extent of the injuries
• The length of time that medical treatment is required
• The time/wages lost from the inability to work
• The type of error or errors that occurred

When you hire a professional to represent you, our firm, in this case, the pharmacy will understand that they cannot ignore or deny your claim.

I Feel Conflicted About Filing A Case. Can I Think About It And Decide Later?

It’s important to know that you must file in a specific time frame from the date of injury. The filing deadline is known as The Statute of Limitations, and it’s important to realize that the window of time can vary based on state law. For example:

• In Texas, personal injury lawsuits have a Statute of Limitations of two years with few exceptions.
• In some other states, the Statute of Limitations can be half that length of time – even shorter – depending on particular facts of the case.

How Do You Prove Negligence Or Malpractice?

It turns out that in most cases, negligence is merely that: pure negligence (as a matter of law, that is). If we can prove the error through records, medicine bottles, and testimonies, we will demonstrate the negligence. The other issue that needs to be addressing at this point is whether the medication error caused the injury and what exactly is the extent of the damage.

What Can I Expect To Gain From a Settlement?

Typically, you’re allowed to recover compensation for damages in these categories:

• Medical costs
• Lost wages
• Damages for physical pain
• Damages for mental anguish
• Damages for physical impairment
• Damages for disfigurement, if any
• Wrongful death compensation

Why Choose Kennedy Law Firm?

Kennedy Law Firm is a board-certified and experienced pharmaceutical malpractice attorney. The examples below are a few cases where we successfully retained settlements for our clients:

• Represented a two-year-old who had a seizure after a pharmacist gave them the wrong medication.
• Represented a patient who had ingested a near-fatal dose of a potent central nervous system stimulant. The pharmacist (from a national pharmacy) had mislabeled the medication as Vicodin.
• Successfully represented a patient whose pharmacist had instructed to take a dose contrary to the one the patient’s doctor had initially ordered.
• Successfully represented a patient against a national pharmacy when the pharmacist gave them a powerful HIV medication instead of medication to treat the patient’s minor acid reflux case.

We hope this gave you a good overview of the steps to take when considering bringing a case to us for review. You can also order a copy of our FREE E-Book, “Making Pharmacies Pay for Their Errors,” to learn more about taking action because of a prescription error. You can order the free book by filling out our confidential contact form or by calling 713-425-6445.