Nursing Homes • Medical Clinics • Hospitals • Pharmacies
Medication errors account for a good percentage of medical malpractice cases in Illinois and elsewhere. So much medication is prescribed for patients in nursing homes, hospitals, and doctors clinics that it is somewhat surprising that even more people are not adversely affected by medication errors. If someone you love was adversely affected when someone gave the wrong medication or mistakenly gave too much medicine, our attorneys at Cirignani Heller & Harman LLP are ready to help you out what happened and will assist you in obtaining the compensation you deserve. Contact us online today to speak with one of our experienced Chicago prescription medication errors lawyers.
Medical malpractice involving medication errors can happen in all kinds of ways:
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Negligent Dosing: Overdose/Underdose
Overdosing and underdosing can occur due to physician error in prescribing, a pharmacist error in labeling or dispensing, or a nurse error in administering. Some of the medications commonly involved in serious dosing injuries include: anticoagulants (blood-thinners), antibiotics, cardiac meds, cancer meds, and steroids. Dosing injuries are seen frequently in infants and young children where safe doses are either unknown or need to be based on the size of the child. Too much can poison a patient; too little won't cure what was intended to be cured. -
Wrong drug
Like dosing errors, use of the wrong drug can occur due to physician error in prescribing, a pharmacist error in labeling or dispensing, or a nurse error in administering. Pharmacists can misread a doctor's handwriting, particularly when there are multiple drugs with similar names (Amoxicillin, Ampicillin). A nurse may give the medication intended for the patient in 268A to the patient in 286A. Wrong drug errors create two types of risks: first, the beneficial effect of the intended drug is not obtained; and second, the wrong drug may cause serious injury to the patient. -
Drug Interactions
Many drugs impact the effect of other drugs. These drug interactions can be dangerous. One of the riskiest drugs for interaction effects is Coumadin. Many drugs and even foods can effect the levels of Coumadin in the blood. -
Allergic reactions
One way this negligence occurs is when a patient gets a drug to which they are allergic. But other times it is because of something called, "cross-reactivity," Cross-reactive drugs describe two or more drugs with similar chemical composition. Giving one drug from a group of cross- reactive drugs to a patient known to be allergic to another may be negligent. -
Side effects
Every drug has potential side effects; but if a physician does not warn a patient about serious potential side effects the patient does not know what watch for and the results can be catastrophic. In some cases, the doctor must monitor the patient with tests to look for side effects the patient can't see, like decreasing kidney function. Failure to educate a patient or to monitor can be negligent.
In Illinois, recent legislation attempts to limit the numbers of medication errors medical patients experience. However, mistakes can and do still happen. If your family has experienced the negative impact of medication errors, contact our office to talk about it.
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