Prescription Error Led to Potential Infant Overdose
A prescription error at a local New Jersey CVS may have resulted in permanent damage to Jayden Trowbridge, an eight-month-old baby. The label on Jayden's prescription cough medicine called for four times the appropriate dosage for a child of his age and weight. Instead of receiving the proper dosage for a 19-pound child, he was prescribed the amount a 120-pound adult would receive.
As a result, Jayden could not sleep for the four days he took the prescription cough medicine. His mother describes him as being jittery, anxious, crying, and whining, which are all uncharacteristic of the typically laid back baby.
The family is currently looking to CVS for answers. The pharmacy's label instructed Jayden to take one full teaspoon every 12 hours, even though the doctor's prescription called for the correct dosage, ΒΌ teaspoon every 12 hours.
Jayden's family is still worried about the long-term consequences of this prescription error, and they are currently uncertain whether their child has sustained any permanent damage as a result of the overdose.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury as a result of a prescription error, you may be entitled to receive compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit. It is important to consult an experienced attorney who can help you receive the compensation you deserve.
If you have been the victim of a prescription error in the New York City area, please contact the New York medical malpractice lawyers at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today to schedule your free initial consultation.
Labels: medical malpractice, prescription error
Pharmacies, Prescriptions, and Mistakes: Who is at Fault?
Last year, a pregnant woman was prescribed the prenatal vitamin Materna by her doctor. According to a federal lawsuit she later filed, Walgreen's gave her Matulane, a drug used in combination with other chemotherapy drugs, and one that hinders cell growth. The lawsuit claims she miscarried two months later after weeks of various symptoms, including lightheadedness, nausea, chills, vomiting and more. The suit further claims that the miscarriage was a direct result of Walgreen's' negligence, and she and her husband sought damages of $75,000.
The Question of Blame While cases of pharmacies prescribing the wrong medication pop up here and there, the question of who is to blame and why did it happen is never far behind. First of all, why was this error made? Sure, Materna and Matulane both begin with the same three letters, but how could someone mistake a prenatal vitamin for an anticancer medication? And is there any sort of fail-safe in case this happens? Is one person behind the counter at the pharmacy and are they so busy they rush through the order? Can't they read the doctor's penmanship? Is this a case of medical malpractice? There are literally dozens of hypothetical questions one can ask. Still, who is to blame? For better or worse, we put our trust in the hands of pharmacists and pharmacies across the country. We assume they'll be able to fill the prescriptions we need correctly - and perhaps this assumption is our fault. However, when one of them makes a truly horrible mistake like Walgreen's did, we cast about looking, not only for answers, but blame and justice.
This is Where the Lawyers Come In Lawyers are there to serve their clients and help guide them through the often confusing aspects of the law. The Walgreen's lawsuit was settled confidentially. Thus, only those involved know the outcome and where any blame was assigned - or even if blame was assigned. And yet....
How and Why is the Settlement Any of Our Business? Well, for starters, it's probably in the interest of safety to find out if this was just one tragic mistake, or if there is a pattern. Most big stores have a pharmacy, and with scores or hundreds of Walgreen's across the country, the chances that a mistake here and there becoming a pattern increase. Another reason these settlements should perhaps be transparent is that it looks like the law is protecting the big-box stores over the safety of the public. Yet, there is always the issue of the payment of damages, and if the idea is simply to embarrass some of the nation's biggest retailers, then there are other ways of going about this. Publicity is always important, especially when the big stores insist on being portrayed in a positive light. There is a contract that will come up and we must abide by this contract, even if it means the case is shrouded in secrecy.
Public Knowledge of Pharmacy Errors Vs. Protection of Big-Box Store Reputations
I suppose it's up to the law. I suppose that some people have a flicker of national pride that our pharmacies are much better than, say, Chinese toy factories will ever be. However, as a consumer, you have the right to get the proper prescriptions without having to worry about mistakes that might harm or kill you or your family. If something like this happens to you, you have legal recourse. By contacting an experienced injury lawyer, you can get good advice on how to best pursue damages. Don't let the fact that you're up against giants deter you from pursuing justice. Labels: damages, medical malpractice, prescription error
Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Filed in John Ritter's Premature Death
When John Ritter died unexpectedly at the young age of 54, the world mourned an actor who was famous not only for his television comedy work on the hit Three's Company and its less popular spin-off Three's a Crowd, but also for his ubiquitous presence in TV and movies, with guest spots on everything from Hawaii Five-O to Felicity to Scrubs. And it seems that his death was not only unexpected, but unnecessary as well, or, at least, that is what his widow is trying to prove in her wrongful death lawsuit against doctors at the California hospitals where he was treated. Her hope is that penalizing the doctors for their medical malpractice in his case, to the tune of $67 million in damages, will both further publicize his condition to help future sufferers and keep the doctors accountable for following-through on recommended treatment. When Ritter went to the hospital after suffering severe nausea, vomiting, and chest pain on his daughter's 5th birthday, an emergency room doctor recommended a chest x-ray. However, none was performed, and instead his cardiologist, thinking Ritter had suffered a heart attack, prescribed anticoagulants, which could only have worsened his condition, an aortic dissection, a tearing of the inner layer of the aorta, the primary artery by which blood is conveyed to the body from the heart. The lawsuit contends that if a chest x-ray had been performed, the condition might have been identified. Medicine is a tricky business, and doctors unfortunately make mistakes all the time. However, there is no excuse for doctors jumping to conclusions without following through on necessary diagnostic tools. If you have suffered or lost a loved one as a result of a doctor's carelessness or failure to diagnose your condition, you need an experienced medical malpractice attorney. In Phoenix, Arizona, contact the law firm of Snyder & Wenner, P.C. for a free initial consultation. Labels: medical malpractice, medical negligence, prescription error, wrongful death
New Technology May Prevent Prescription Error
FDA statistics indicate that more than one person per day dies in the US as a result of a medication error. Whether the prescription error is giving the wrong dose of a medication or giving the wrong drug entirely, the results can be equally lethal. ValiMed is a new tool developed by the CDEX corporation in Kansas City to prevent just such errors. The machine works by shining an ultraviolet light on the drug, then reading the fluorescent glow given off by the drug in response to the light. The fluorescence is dependent on the chemical structure of the drug, so it is 100 % distinct for every drug, and the machine can identify the drug in question in 30 seconds. For now, the technology is in its development stage, and has only been programmed to recognize high-risk IV medications, but the hope is that it can be expanded to work with all drugs, and then used at bedside to reduce prescription errors taking place in hospitals. According to a University of Utah pharmacist who is testing the machine said, "The goal is zero patient errors for all of this." Unfortunately, the technology is in place in only 12 hospitals nationwide, and therefore cannot protect most people from deadly prescription errors. If you have lost a loved one as a result of a prescription error in Pheonix, contact the experienced medical malpractice lawyers at Snyder & Wenner, P.C. who will listen to your case and take up your cause. Labels: medical malpractice, prescription error
|
