Filing a Wrong Prescription or Medication Lawsuit
Gregg Hollander | February 26, 2024 | Medical Malpractice
Most of the time, we don’t even consider how much we trust professionals, especially healthcare providers. We put our lives in their hands on a regular basis. But when we suffer harm due to a faulty prescription or the wrong medication, the risk that we’re taking hits hard.
If a doctor, pharmacist, or another medical professional harmed you through medical negligence, you deserve compensation for your losses.
Who Can You Sue?
Who are the possible defendants in a medical malpractice or product liability lawsuit? Depending on the facts of your case, they might include:
- Doctors, nurses, and hospitals;
- Pharmacists and pharmacies; or
- Companies that manufacture, produce, or distribute the medication.
Suing health care providers and suing drug manufacturers involve two different types of claims: medical malpractice and product liability, respectively.
Medical Malpractice Claims
One of the legal weapons you might use for a personal injury claim arising from faulty medication is a medical malpractice lawsuit.
What You Have To Prove To Win
These are the five elements you need to prove to win a medical malpractice claim:
- The defendant owed you a professional duty of care;
- The defendant breached their duty of care;
- You suffered some type of physical harm;
- The defendant’s breach of duty actually caused the harm that you suffered; and
- The harm you suffered was the proximate cause (foreseeable consequence) of the defendant’s breach of duty.
You must prove all five of these elements to win your claim.
The Professional Duty of Care
A medical professional will be held to a much higher standard of care than a random pedestrian who renders first aid at the scene of an auto accident. Although the precise duty varies according to the circumstances, the general standard of care amounts to whatever a reasonably prudent healthcare provider would do under similar circumstances.
In a faulty medication case, the doctor would have the duty to prescribe the right type and dosage of medication, while the pharmacist would have the duty to accurately fill the order. You might need a medical expert witness to state with precision exactly what medication a “reasonably prudent” doctor would have prescribed, for example.
Breach of the Duty of Care
A healthcare provider breaches their duty of care when their treatment falls below the applicable standard of care. This might happen if they wrote a faulty incorrect prescription or failed to provide you with accurate instructions. You might need expert testimony to establish breach of duty.
Physical Harm
You must prove that you suffered physical harm to maintain a lawsuit. A “good scare” is simply not enough unless it is accompanied by physical harm. Once you prove physical harm, however, you can also demand compensation for non-physical damages such as pain and suffering.
Actual Cause
Your healthcare provider’s breach of duty must have been the actual cause of the harm you suffered.
Proximate Cause
The harm you suffered cannot have been a freak accident. The relationship between cause and effect must have been close enough to justify holding the defendant financially responsible for the harm you suffered.
Red Tape: Notice of Intent and Affidavit of Merit
Florida discourages frivolous medical malpractice claims by adding an extra layer of bureaucracy to medical malpractice claims. Before you file your complaint to initiate the lawsuit, you must serve a Notice of Intent to Sue on the defendant. This notice must include an affidavit from a medical professional confirming that your claim is valid.
What follows is a complicated 90-day settlement period that applies up to three different critical deadlines. Talk to a lawyer before you attempt to initiate a Florida medical malpractice lawsuit. By the way, the general Florida statute of limitations deadline is two years after the malpractice occurred (though there are exceptions).
Product Liability Claims
Your problem might not have arisen from a mistake by your doctor or pharmacist. Instead, the fault might lie with the manufacturer of the medication itself. In such a case, you have a product liability claim, not a medical malpractice claim.
You don’t even have to prove fault to win a product liability claim. Instead, you need to prove that the medication was defective and unreasonably dangerous.
A Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help With Your Case
Medical malpractice claims tend to be difficult to win. Doctors and other medical practitioners tend to fight hard against what they inevitably see as an attack against their reputations.
If you do win, however, the amount of compensation is likely to be high. Moreover, doctors and their insurance companies seldom lack the funds to pay even large claims.
Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm in South Florida
If you’ve been injured in an accident, please contact our experienced personal injury lawyers in Florida at Hollander Law Firm Accident Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation today. We have three convenient locations in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach.
We proudly serve Palm Beach County, Broward County, and its surrounding areas:
Hollander Law Firm Accident Injury Lawyers – Boca Raton Law Office
7000 W Palmetto Park Rd #500
Boca Raton, FL 33433
(561) 347-7770
Hollander Law Firm Accident Injury Lawyers – Fort Lauderdale Law Office
200 S.E. 6th Street #203
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(954) 287-0566
Hollander Law Firm Accident Injury Lawyers – West Palm Beach Law Office
319 Clematis St #203
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 556-7873