Prescription Negligence

We Americans are lucky to live during a time when many serious medical problems/illnesses can be effectively treated with the administering of prescription medications. These potentially lifesaving drugs can turn deadly, though, when medical professionals are guilty of prescription negligence. Due at least in part to the staggering number of prescriptions filled each day, prescription drug negligence is a growing epidemic in the United States. Thousands every year in the U.S. experience complications associated with prescription medications.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, over 500,000 injuries and more than 100,000 deaths each year can be attributed to prescription negligence. In fact, studies have found that pharmaceuticals are responsible for approximately ten percent of all hospitalizations and avoidable prescription drug related illnesses. Far too many Americans suffer wrongful deaths each year from harmful side effects or adverse reactions to prescription drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the federal agency charged with approving all prescription drugs. Manufacturers of pharmaceuticals place pressure on the FDA to approve of their product as expeditiously as possible so as to begin generating profit. When certain prescription drugs are fast-tracked through the approval system, a thorough understanding of the drug’s potential side effects and interactions may not yet exist. Patients taking the medications could suffer serious personal injury, illness or even death. Long-term effects of taking prescription drugs are not easily determined. Even after FDA approval the pharmaceutical manufacturer is still responsible for unsafe medications or medical devices.

• The manufacturers of prescription drugs may be considered liable/negligent when the company fails to manufacture, inspect, design, or label pharmaceuticals appropriately.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturers may also be found liable/negligent if they fail to warn of a prescription medication’s specific side effects, interactions, or potential dangers to one’s health.
• Doctors are prohibited by law from receiving money or other material benefit from the prescribing of specific drugs.
• If there is evidence that a doctor or another health care provider put either the pharmaceutical company or their own interest above that of the patient, medical malpractice may have occurred.

Patients should save all documentation related to prescription medications including the remaining product and all labels and instructions that came with the prescription medication including the drug’s original container.

Some of the more problematic prescription drugs on the market today causing serious side effects include the following:

• Ephedra
• Lamisil
• OxyContin
• Propulsid
• Vioxx
• Arava
• Meridia
• Prempro
• Serzone
• Accutane
• Celebrex
• Enbrel
• Lotronex
• Phenypropanolamine
• Rezulin
• Baycol
• Bextra
• Paxil
• Thimerosal
• Zyprexa

Prescription errors occur due to improperly filled prescriptions. A prescribed drug may contradict a medication already being taken by a patient, or the pharmacist may give the patient an incorrect dosage or incorrect medication itself. Pharmacists and/or doctors may be found negligent/liable in cases such as this. If the patient dies as the result of having taken this prescription medication, a wrongful death case may be filed. If a serious illness or patient death is due to the medication itself, then the pharmaceutical manufacturer may be held accountable. That means in cases in which a doctor did not prescribe the drug which caused injury or suffering, but instead you purchased the drug on your own as in the case of herbal products, for example, you may still have a viable claim against the manufacturer.

Pharmacists/pharmacies are overburdened today. The number of pharmacists nationwide is increasing only one to two percent each year, so the workload of individual pharmacists is ever increasing. That is according to pharmacist David DePersio of Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Doctors today often substitute generic prescriptions for brand-name prescriptions. One common drug may come under multiple names, and this confusion also contributes to prescription drug negligence.

Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company did its own study of 500 prescription negligence claims and found that over 86 percent could have been prevented due to human error:

• In over half the cases the wrong prescription drug was dispensed.
• An incorrect dosage or strength of the medication was administered in 27 percent of the cases under study.
• Incorrect patient directions were printed on labels in over seven percent of the cases.

• Drug information including up-to-date warnings from the FDA or the pharmaceutical manufacturer, side effects, negative interactions with other medications, etc. being unavailable
• Patient information incomplete. Doctors and pharmacists may be unaware of other medications being taken by the patient, patient allergies to medications, previous lab test results and diagnoses, etc.
• Drug order (prescription) miscommunication error which may involve confusion regarding drugs with similar names, poor handwriting on the part of the prescriber (doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, etc.), incorrect or incomprehensible medical abbreviations, confusion of dosing units, etc.
• Distractions which may cause health care professionals from preparing proper labeling for drug packaging

Basically the above prescription errors fall into three categories:

1. Illnesses being misdiagnosed leading to incorrect prescribing or delivering of prescriptions to patients by doctors and other medical professionals—the wrong drug is prescribed or the wrong dosage is indicated.
2. Negligence on the part of the pharmacy/pharmacist—Incorrect dosage, incomplete, incorrect, or misleading labeling, or wrong medications being given to the patient
3. In hospital drug administration errors and misinterpretation of medical orders—Nurses or other health care providers giving the wrong medication or medication in the wrong dosage to patients under their care—a patient being given morphine instead of Valium to control seizures, for example, and being induced into a coma

If a loved one has died or if you or a loved one has suffered an injury, illness, or pain due to prescription negligence, contact the New York attorneys of David Resnick & Associates, PC.

The New York Lawyers of David Resnick & Associates serve the New York City area, including the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Queens.

Call us at (212) 279-2000 or fill out our online contact form.

These Hubs are provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Professional legal counsel should be sought for specific advice relevant to your circumstances.