by: NPHM | December 5, 2022

Who Can I Sue if I Was Harmed by a Prescription Medication Error?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that from 2015-2018, nearly half of all Americans took at least one prescription medication during the previous month, and nearly one-in-four Americans were using three or more prescriptions during the same timeframe.

Prescription drugs have the power to improve quality of life, treat or cure certain illnesses and diseases, and help patients manage their health problems. But whether it’s due to poor manufacturing processes, flawed designs, or prescription errors, they can also cause patients to suffer serious health problems and complications.

If you or someone you love was harmed by a prescription medication error, you may be eligible to receive compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Here’s who may be held liable for your damages.

Your Doctor

Doctors can be held liable for many different mistakes when treating their patients, including misdiagnosing them, failing to diagnose them, and prescribing them the wrong medications. The types of medication errors doctors can and do make include:

• Prescribing the wrong medications—When doctors prescribe the wrong medications, their patients may not only fail to get better, but they may suffer new illnesses or complications.
• Prescribing medications that interact badly with other medications—Certain types of medications shouldn’t be taken together. When doctors either prescribe interacting medications together or fail to ask patients what medications they’re on, they can seriously harm patients.
• Prescribing the wrong dosages—Doctors may prescribe patients dosages of medications that are too strong or too weak for their conditions. When dosages are too strong, patients may suffer severe side effects due to overdoses. When they’re too weak, patients may not get a therapeutic effect.

Your Pharmacist

Pharmacists can also be held liable for prescription medication errors when they make the following errors:

• Giving patients the wrong medications—Whether they misread prescriptions or fail to doublecheck what doctors wrote, pharmacists can harm patients or cause their conditions to worsen when they give them the wrong medications.
• Giving patients the wrong dosages or formulations of medications—Pharmacists may give patients the correct type of medications, but give them dosages that are too strong or too weak. They also may give them extended-release versions of medications instead of standard-release versions, which can also put patients’ health at risk.
• Giving patients the wrong advice about medications—In some cases, pharmacists can harm patients by giving them inaccurate advice about the medications they’re taking. For example, they may wrongly tell them that their medications won’t interact with other drugs or supplements they’re taking.

Your Healthcare Providers While You’re in the Hospital

Not all prescription medication errors occur at home. Some occur while patients are hospitalized. In-patients often require medications during their recoveries, but they have to trust that the medications they take or receive via injections or IVs are exactly what their doctors ordered, including formulation and dosage.

Unfortunately, doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare providers may give patients the wrong medications or dosages during their recoveries. These mistakes can have the same consequences as prescription medication errors that occur at home, and the providers who dispense or administer the medications can be held liable if patients are harmed.

The Manufacturer of the Prescription Medication

Drug manufacturers can be sued for drug-related injuries when they:

• Make drugs that are flawed in design and dangerous to patients
• Develop drugs using a flawed manufacturing process that causes them to become contaminated or lose potency
• Package or label drugs incorrectly, causing patients to receive the wrong medications or the wrong dosages of medications
• Are aware of serious side effects or complications but hide them to ensure their medications are approved by the FDA and can be sold or administered to patients

Call Us After a Prescription Drug Injury

Not only are there multiple parties who can potentially be held liable for prescription drug injuries, but in some cases, multiple parties can be held liable for a single prescription drug injury. At Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, our Cleveland drug injury lawyers know how to determine who is at fault after drug injuries and help victims get maximum compensation for their damages.

If you or someone you love was harmed by a prescription medication, we want to get to the bottom of it for you. We’ll collect evidence to find out who was responsible, we’ll calculate your damages, and we’ll work hard to get you every penny you’re owed. Contact us today for a free consultation.