South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Fela Netkin is seeking Margate personal injury damages from her local Sav-a-Lot pharmacy because she says that they mistakenly gave her 5 times the prescribed dose of her anticoagulant medication. Because of the pharmacy’s negligence, Netkin says that she suffered bleeding and bruising and had to go to the hospital.
Per court documents, Netkin says that she had her prescription filled at the Margate pharmacy in June. However, instead of 45, 1 MG tablets of warfarin sodium, which was what the prescription was for, she was administered 45, 5 MG tablets.
Florida Pharmacy Malpractice
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can be held liable if mistakes they make when administering medication causes serious injury or death. Common pharmacist mistakes:
• Giving a customer someone else’s prescription
• Giving the wrong medication to a customer
• Confusing medications that have the same name or look alike
• Giving the correct medication but the wrong dose
• Giving the correct medication but with the wrong instructions
• Misreading the physician’s handwriting, which can result in pharmacy misfills
• Failure to consult or advise a customer who has been given a prescription
Pharmacists owe a duty of care to the customers whose prescriptions they are filing. The pharmacy, clinic, or hospital where the pharmacist works also is upheld to this duty.
Common cause of pharmacy errors:
• Inexperience • Inadequate training
• Too many tasks to tend to-from filling prescriptions to dealing with customers. This can make it hard to focus.
• Inadequate systems and procedures in place for minimizing errors • Too many prescriptions and not enough pharmacists • Doctor error
Many pharmacy mistakes are preventable. It can prove fatal for someone to take the wrong medication, the wrong dose, or take a drug that reacts adversely to other medications he/she already may be taking. You may have grounds for a Palm Beach pharmacy misfill lawsuit.
Accidental Overdose? Pharmacist’s Slip Makes Woman Bleed, Lawsuit Claims, Broward Palm Beach, August 10, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Unreported Pharmacy Errors, ABC
Prescription Errors Rising, Consumer Affairs, June 10, 2010
Institute for Safe Medication Practices
More Blog Posts:
Methadone as A Painkiller Can Be Fatal For Some Users, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 25, 2008
Miami Beach Personal Injury Seeks Damages Against Ex-NFL Star Larry Johnson for Alleged Assault, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, July 31, 2011
Fort Myers, Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit: Jury Orders Wal-Mart to Pay $421,400 to Woman Hit by Stock Cart, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 11, 2011