Advice For You

Medication Error Claims

If you have been ill through a medication error, been given the wrong tablets or medicine, or the wrong dosage, then our team of medical negligence solicitors can get you the compensation you deserve.

Taking the wrong medication through no fault of your own can lead to quite serious side effects.  Some of them can be short-term, but others can lead to significant complications and therefore you may be able to make a compensation claim.

What is a Medication Error?

It is when incorrect medication is administered to a patient, through either a prescription error or a dispensing error. It can be medication for self-administration, such as tablets or medicine, but can also include an anaesthetic or injection given by a healthcare professional.

They can happen at any time during the clinical process, in a hospital, via a GP or in a care home and if you have been affected our medical negligence specialists can advise on claims to be made.

Types of Medication Errors

These include both dispensing errors and prescription errors in some of the cases we have dealt with:

  • When medication is prescribed without regular reviews - for example on repeat prescriptions.
  • When it is wrongly prescribed and you are given the incorrect dosage.
  • Toxicity cases.
  • If there is a contraindication with other medications.
  • If a pharmacist misreads the prescription and supplies the incorrect dose.
  • Dispensing errors, when the wrong medication is given out by a chemist or pharmacy.
  • We have had clients where there has been a mix-up between patients in hospitals or care homes, in these cases our clients have been given someone else’s medication.

In all of the above cases, you can speak with our medical negligence solicitors to see if you have a compensation claim. Often, we are able to get out-of-court settlements for our clients and act on a No Win No Fee basis in medication error cases.

Dispensing Errors

Compensation for dispensing errors by a Chemist or Pharmacy.

Clients come to us from all over the UK when they have suffered side effects from taking the wrong tablets or the wrong dosage. Sometimes their medication gets mixed up because it looks and sounds like another tablet (LASA errors) but is in fact totally different.

Clients are often given the wrong tablets by the chemist or pharmacists which is alarming as patients put their trust in healthcare professionals to get it right.

In most cases, thankfully, the side effects are short term and the harm to a patient is mild. However, we frequently deal with cases that unfortunately have much more serious consequences.

Prescription Errors

Compensation for a prescribing error by a GP or Hospital.

Prescription errors can occur when a doctor prescribes the wrong medication or by prescribing the wrong dosage. We act for clients who have been made ill when the medication is not regularly reviewed, or there is a contraindication with another medication.

Prescription errors are avoidable and our medical negligence solicitors can handle your prescription error claim on your behalf.  All our medical experts specialise in this area of law.

Whether the prescription error has been made by your GP, hospital or high street pharmacy or, if you have been treated privately, we can still handle your claim and guide you through the process.

Making a Medication Error Claim

It is quick and easy to make a compensation claim for medication errors. Clients can simply call us to speak to one of our friendly medical negligence advisers or they can fill in our online enquiry form with their contact details and we will arrange for one of our experts to make contact.

Pearson Solicitors can help you make a medication error claim and we will investigate your case, and find out what happened and the impact the medication error has had on you – both medically and financially.

You have three years to make a claim and by bringing a claim, you will receive the compensation due to you and hopefully, lessons will be learnt by the medical professions so that the same mistakes are not made in the future.

For legal advice on your medication error claim call 0161 785 3500 or email enquiries@pearsonlegal.co.uk and one of our medical negligence solicitors will be in touch.