Medication Errors
This type of malpractice occurs when the doctor negligently prescribes or gives the wrong medication or dosage. When prescribing medications, a doctor needs to be aware of potential adverse reactions or complications and should start by examining the patient and taking a thorough medical history regarding any known allergies that the patient may have, what other medications the patient is presently taking, and what other medical conditions the patient has that would contraindicate the use of the medication.
Certain medications such as narcotics can be addictive and the doctor should carefully monitor how much pain medication the patient is being prescribed to control the patient’s pain. Some prescription medications may require periodic blood testing to monitor for liver damage, kidney damage, etc. If the doctor fails to reasonably monitor the patient, their failure may constitute negligence.
When a medication is unreasonably dangerous and is withdrawn from the marketplace, the legal case may involve a product liability claim against the pharmacy for distributing the product and the pharmaceutical company for manufacturing the product.