Every year many people are injured due to medication errors. With the growth in the number of large pharmacy chains operating in Ireland in the past number of years patients depend on these pharmacies getting their prescriptions right. When something goes wrong and the pharmacy improperly fill the prescription many people are left with no option but to take legal action.
The most frequent errors include filling a prescription with the wrong drug, or with the wrong strength or with the wrong directions or for the wrong patient. People who need medicine are obviously sick or have a condition requiring treatment. When the condition worsens after a prescription error pharmacies are often quick to claim that this would have happened anyway.
Pharmacy negligence cases can be complicated. Proving liability for a prescription-filling error can be problematic. Pharmacists often claim that they did not fill the prescription. Pharmacies sometimes blame patients and claim that they should have realized that they got the wrong medicine. The following question should be asked to defeat this defense –
- Is the pharmacist ultimately responsible for making sure the prescription is filled with the correct medicine?
- The patient would be unlikely to notice that he or she has the wrong medicine because he or she is relying on the pharmacy.
- Who is more likely to notice the wrong medication – the pharmacist or the patient?
Incident report forms should also be sought as these report forms are filled out sooner after the error and often contain admissions that the prescription was improperly filled. Pharmacies create and update these records.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury as a result of a pharmacist’s negligence you may entitled to seek compensation. For a free consultation today concerning your case please email Liam Moloney with the full details to info@moloneysolicitors.ie or simply contact our firm at 045 898000 to arrange a consultation.
