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What To Do If You Were Prescribed The Wrong Medication 

BIKLaw Medical Malpractice Lawyer > Medical Malpractice > What To Do If You Were Prescribed The Wrong Medication 

Patient who was prescribed the wrong medication

When a doctor prescribes you a prescription medication to treat a particular health condition, he or she must use due care to make sure that the medication, its dosage, and its frequency are correct. If your physician prescribes the wrong medication to you and you are harmed because of it, you could have a medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice claims are challenging from both the medical and legal aspects. 

Your physician is only liable to you for damages if he or she made the medical error, not if the pharmacist or the drug manufacturer made the error; if the pharmacy made the error, they would then be responsible for the injuries. It can be complicated to prove malpractice, and just like any other medical malpractice claim, you will need to prove that your physician’s actions constituted medical negligence. Before you file a claim for malpractice or negligence, should understand what medical negligence means and when your physician is liable for prescribing the wrong drug. 

Proving Medical Negligence 

For a medical malpractice claim to be successful, you must prove liability. In this situation, you must show that your physician was negligent in prescribing a specific medication. To show that was the case, you must establish each of the following elements: 

  • That your doctor deviated from the standard of care in providing you treatment, and,
  • That you suffered harm because of that deviation from the standard of care

The first thing that you must establish is that your doctor deviated from the applicable medical standard of care. In order to prove that, you will most likely need an expert witness with experience in treating patients in the same medical field as your physician. The medical standard of care is often defined as the level and kind of care that a healthcare professional with the same training/experience would provide under the same or very similar circumstances. This is how the conduct of your physicians in prescribing medications to you is measured. 

You must show what your doctor did or did not do was not in line with the proper course of care given your situation’s specific circumstances. 

Secondly, you must show that you suffered injury from the medication that was prescribed. You must show that the wrong medication or dosage of that medication caused new health problems or worsened an existing medical problem. If your injury is significant, it may warrant filing a medical malpractice claim. 

This could be because the doctor prescribed the wrong dosage, the doctor prescribed the wrong medication, the medication was prescribed for the wrong time frame, the doctor prescribed medication with ingredients that the patient was allergic to, or the doctor prescribed a medication that had dangerous interactions with another medication that the patient was taking. 

Pursuing A Claim 

If you were harmed because your doctor prescribed the wrong medication or wrong dosage of medication, you should speak with a Los Angeles medical malpractice attorney. The Trial Law Office of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., will review the details of the medication error and determine if there is medical negligence sufficient to justify filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. 

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