Pharmacist and drug company liability for medical malpractice

Incidents of medical malpractice need not be confined to a hospital or a doctor’s office. Wherever you receive some aspect of health care, the possibility of a medical mistake cannot be discounted.

For example, one place that you might encounter a medical error that can lead to harm is at your local pharmacy. Consider what might happen if the pharmacist makes a mistake like switching your prescription with someone else’s: the medication that you take might not help to treat your ailment, which means that you might suffer from a worsened condition. Or the wrong medication could cause harm of its own, such as an adverse drug reaction.

The pharmacist could also make a mistake in reading what the doctor wrote or entered for the dosage amount. Imagine what might happen if you take too much of a powerful sedative, or not the right amount of an anti-depressant drug. The consequences could be serious to the point of being lethal.

Another related aspect of medical malpractice related to the drugs you take may be caused by the drug manufacturer itself. How many times have you seen a prescription drug advertisement on television, for example, in which the announcer reads a laundry list of possible harmful side-effects so lengthy that it makes you wonder if the benefits were outweighed by the risks?

Pursuing a medical malpractice claim against a pharmaceutical company however, could be a challenge. The company may defend itself by claiming that the doctor was in a better position to know of any harmful effects that the drug may have had on you, thereby deflecting responsibility onto the physician.

It may still be a possibility to explore a claim against the drug maker based on product liability, even though that area of negligence law is not directly connected with medical malpractice liability.

In summation, medically-related mistakes can occur in a number of settings, some of which may not be immediately apparent to anyone not experienced with medical malpractice cases.

If you believe that you may have suffered harm as a result of any part of the medical treatment you receive, an attorney may be able to help you to explore the facts of your situation to see whether a possible cause of action exists.