Medical professionals can make a number of mistakes when medications are involved. Beyond prescribing the wrong medication or not checking for conflicts with prescriptions, medical professionals can also injure you by prescribing the wrong dosage.

If that happens, you may be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the healthcare provider. You may be able to sue numerous defendants in this lawsuit. Always check with a medical malpractice lawyer to learn whether you may have a cause of action.

How Do Medication Dosage Errors Occur?

Hospitals often use automatic dispensing to fill prescriptions. Even if the doctor writes the correct amount of medication on the prescription, there may still be an error when filling it out for the patient. The doctor could write that the patient is to receive 10 mg of a medication, and the hospital could fill it as 100. Then, when a nurse administers the medication, the patient could have an adverse reaction because it is too much for their system.

The doctor could also simply not know the correct amount of the medication to administer to the patient. Sometimes, they could use sloppy handwriting or add an extra zero when they enter the prescription into the computer.

Are Medication Errors Medical Malpractice?

A medical professional commits malpractice when they do something that the ordinary professional of average training would not have done under the circumstances. A reasonable medical professional would prescribe the correct dosage of medication to their patient. It is the doctor’s obligation to both know the nature of the medication they are prescribing and the right dosage for the patient.

It can be medical malpractice when a doctor prescribes too much or too little of a medication. In the former case, the patient could be injured because the amount of medication is too much for their system to handle. In the latter case, the medication may not be enough to make a measurable difference in the patient’s health when they count on the prescription to treat their condition.

Who Are Potential Defendants in Wrong Dosage Cases?

The most common defendant whom you may be able to sue in a wrong dosage case is the doctor who prescribed the medication. They should know the correct dosage before they prescribe the medication. In addition, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the pharmacy that filled the prescription. Through their training, the pharmacist should know that the doctor has prescribed the wrong dosage. In addition, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the medical professional who administered the prescription because they may have also been in a position to catch the error.

How Do I Prove That the Doctor Committed Medical Malpractice?

Proving medical malpractice lawsuits is not always easy. Although a dosage error would seemingly be an obvious mistake, you would still need to prove every element of your case to qualify for financial compensation. Not only do you have to prove that the medical professional acted unreasonably under the circumstances, but you must also demonstrate that their error was the cause of your injuries.

Your medical malpractice lawyer would work with expert witnesses to prove the professional did something wrong. They would reconstruct the care that you received and give their opinion that the doctor failed to act reasonably under the circumstances. The expert’s testimony would directly tie your injuries to the doctor’s negligent actions.

Contact the Albuquerque Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Buchanan Law Firm, LLC if You Have Been Harmed by a Medication Error

If you have been injured by the negligent actions of a medical professional, reach out to the Albuquerque medical malpractice lawyers at Buchanan Law Firm, LLC. Medical malpractice lawsuits are complex, meaning that you need the help of an experienced lawyer. Call 505-900-3559 or contact us online for a free consultation. Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we serve clients in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas.