Medical Malpractice

Fortunately, we live in a time of incredible medical innovation. The horizon is bright for medical development, and scientists and physicians across the globe are continually making discoveries and advances that benefit us all, including advances for medications that can greatly improve the quality of, or in some cases, even save our lives. As long as it is prescribed and administered as intended, medicine can be wonderful. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t always the case.

Medication errors can take several different forms, all of which are equally dangerous for patients who are relying on their health care providers to provide them with appropriate medications. Patients should be able to trust that their healthcare providers are prescribing and administering necessary medications correctly and with due diligence. When that doesn’t occur, we’re here to help. Here at Caress Worland Law Group, our skilled Indianapolis medical malpractice lawyers handle cases involving all types of medication errors, including:

• Overdose or underdose in a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office: This can happen more often than patients realize in a busy hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office where healthcare providers simply fail to administer the medication prescribed in the correct amounts. Failing to do so can have any number of negative consequences for you as a patient.
• Mislabeling the Medication: Medications can occasionally be mislabeled. This can happen either prior to the time the medication leaves the manufacturer, at the hospital, or at the pharmacy. When this happens, the patient will likely receive the wrong medication or the wrong dosage. The types of lawsuits that can result from this sort of error can vary. If a drug is mislabeled before the product ever leaves the manufacturer, a product liability suit might be warranted. If the pharmacist or hospital makes the error, it could be the subject of a medical malpractice suit.
• Prescription of an incorrect drug or an incorrect dosage: It goes without saying that it is the responsibility of your healthcare provider to ensure that you receive the correct drug needed and in the appropriate amount. Negligence in either regard can be harmful to the patient.
• Failure to consider drug interactions: It is the job of physicians and pharmacists to understand drug interactions. Certain patients may have certain allergies or may be taking multiple medications. In some circumstances, a doctor may be prescribing more than one medication at once, and certain medications do not interact well with each other. It is the job of doctors and pharmacists to track this information and understand it thoroughly, as the effects of not doing so can be severe and can cause lasting damage – and in some cases, even death.
• Transcription errors: If any of the healthcare providers in the transaction (from the prescribing physician, to the nurse, or the pharmacist filling the prescription) misses or transposes even one decimal point, the patient could be administered ten or even a hundred times more medicine than is actually necessary. This can, understandably, be extremely dangerous. Likewise, if a doctor’s handwriting is misread or mis-transposed and the entirely wrong medication is prescribed, the effects can be very damaging.
• Dispensing of an incorrect or inappropriate medication: It seems that this might be difficult to do if one were a trained physician, nurse, or medical assistant. Unfortunately, it can happen very easily.
• Incorrectly administering the prescribed medication: Certain medications must be administered in certain ways. For example, if an injection is prescribed, the nurse may have to give the shot in a very specific location on the body. Some drugs have to be injected into the muscles, and others have to be injected directly into the bloodstream. Failure to administer the medication as indicated can have a very harmful effect.
• Failure to warn of side effects: It is the job of your health care professionals to correctly advise you as to the common side effects of medications that have been prescribed. They should also advise you as to what foods and beverages you can and cannot consume when taking certain medications as well as advising you about any activities in which you should not participate while taking the medication. Failure to do so can most certainly cause harm.

Any one of the aforementioned errors can have significant and lasting consequences. We can help to advise you on what went wrong and on what we can do to help you seek recovery. When you contact the qualified team at Caress Worland Law Group, you’ll be able to rest assured in the knowledge that you are talking to a legal team with the experience and knowledge that you need on your side. We understand the law and the strategies often implemented by attorneys who represent the healthcare professionals on the other side. Our highly experienced and proven Indianapolis medical malpractice attorneys can fight for you and for your right to receive the compensation you deserve as a result of medical negligence that was in no way your fault.

Contact our team today. We’re here to listen to your circumstances and to help you build your case. Let our Indianapolis medical malpractice lawyers focus on your case so that you can fully focus on your recovery. We look forward to speaking with you soon.