Kan Dail
Medication has incredible powers. It can help us feel better when we’re sick and it can ease pain and cure illnesses. But what happens when you were prescribed the wrong medicine?
It’s hard to believe, but there have been cases when the wrong medication was prescribed by a doctor to a patient. Doctors make mistakes too. Sometimes, this doesn’t lead to unwanted consequences, but other times, a patient can get in danger by using the wrong prescription.
What can you do if your doctor prescribed the wrong medicine for you? Here are the necessary steps.
1. Get Medical Help
You should reach out to your doctor as soon as you notice that the prescription is not the correct one. Tell the healthcare professional what the issue is. Most times, they should be able to change the prescription. If not, you will be told what you should do moving forward.
Some drugs will not do anything harmful to your body, so you should first make sure that there is no negative impact or life-threatening risk involved with the medication you’re taking.
The sooner you take action, the better because you have time to prevent any permanent or life-threatening impact of the drugs.
Paying attention to the prescription, asking for the correct one, and checking for any risks can help you in case you end up going to court. You’ll have proof that the doctor is the one who made a mistake by prescribing the wrong medication.
2. Identify Who Else Might Be Responsible
In some cases, the doctor is not the only one responsible for the wrong prescription. Before you proceed with a medical malpractice claim, you should identify all the parties involved in the incident. Some of the medical professionals who might be responsible for it include nurses, other doctors, and pharmacists.
Other professionals may sometimes be responsible for checking for potential prescribing mistakes. If they do not let the prescribing doctor know about the issue or do not take any other action to prevent the wrong diagnosis, it can be considered negligence.
Once you’ve obtained the name of everyone who led to the wrong diagnosis, you can bring every claim in a single medical malpractice lawsuit.
3. Talk to Your Pharmacist
After you talk to your doctor, you should also reach out to your pharmacist. In some cases, medication errors are the pharmacy’s fault, not the doctor’s. In fact, the medical expert may have prescribed the right medication, but the pharmacy gave you the wrong one.
Check the prescription information with the pharmacist to see if there are any differences between what you got and what you should have gotten. Pharmacists can make mistakes too, especially when they feel overwhelmed.
4. Discover the Potential Side Effects
Generally, all medications can have side effects on different people, but some medications even have a higher likelihood of bad effects than others.
When you’ve been prescribed the wrong medication, you should always ask the doctor whether there will be any side effects. Do it even if you do not feel weird after taking the medicine one time. The effects can appear later – so, being aware of the risk can prepare you for what’s to come and maybe even let you know what you should do.
Pay attention to how the doctor responds too. If the medical expert is unable to answer your questions regarding potential side effects, you should look up some information on the Internet. Sometimes, medications can interact with each other and lead to very unpleasant symptoms.
5. Reach Out to an Attorney
A lawyer can help you if you decide to pursue a lawsuit after the wrong prescription. Prescription medication mistakes are not only dangerous but can even be deadly in some cases. The side effects can cause significant discomfort and may even lead to life changes for the patient.
In a medical malpractice situation, you want to have the most knowledgeable and experienced medical malpractice attorney to help you navigate the case smoothly. The attorney will offer details about all the steps you must take moving forward. Visit this page to find some amazing options for medical malpractice lawyers.
6. Make Sure to Keep the Prescription
Even if the doctor gives you the correct prescription after the error, it’s best to still keep the wrong prescription too. You can use it as evidence if you go to court. Without this significant piece, you will not be able to prove that your pharmacist or doctor made such a huge mistake.
7. Become Aware of the Risks of Going to Court
While pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit can help you obtain compensation and get some peace of mind following the unhappy incident, malpractice cases that go to trial carry some risks.
Jurors are instructed to look at the situation without bias and to only base their decisions on the law and facts. While many jurors do their best to follow the instructions perfectly, sometimes bias gets in the way. When it comes to nurses, doctors, and any healthcare professional, many jurors feel sympathy for them, so they go easy on them.
So, even with all the proof in the world, you may be at the mercy of the jurors. If they decide that the doctor did nothing wrong, then you will lose.
The Bottom Line
Being prescribed the wrong medication can have terrible consequences. It can lead to side effects and may even be life-threatening. So, make sure to gather proof and reach out to the doctor or other professional who made the mistake and do this as soon as possible.
If you want to pursue a lawsuit, you can always hire a medical malpractice attorney who will tell you what you should do and what you should avoid. There are many medical malpractice lawyers in every state, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find one that has just the right experience in the field. Don’t waste time – take action immediately for the best results.