Medical malpractice, or medical negligence, can take many different forms in the Santa Fe area, and patients can suffer harm in a wide variety of ways. Most often, people think about medical malpractice as a mistake made when a patient is seeking a diagnosis or being treated by a doctor, or when a patient goes into the hospital for surgery and a surgeon makes a devastating error. Yet many other kinds of health care providers can also be responsible for medical negligence when a patient is injured. You might not realize it, but pharmacists can make mistakes, and when those mistakes result in a patient’s injury, that pharmacist could be liable in a medical malpractice lawsuit. What do you need to know about pharmacy errors and medical malpractice claims? Our Santa Fe medical malpractice attorneys have information to help you.
Pharmacy Error Lawsuits Must be Filed in a Timely Manner
If you or someone you love sustained an injury because of a pharmacist’s negligence, it is essential to begin working with a lawyer on your claim as soon as possible to ensure that you file your lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs out. Under New Mexico law, most medical negligence claims arising out of a pharmacy error must be filed within three years from the date of the pharmacist mistake.
Pharmacists Can Make Many Kinds of Medication Mistakes That Can Result in Patient Injuries
Pharmacists play a critical role in ensuring that patients receive the medications they have been prescribed and that they have any questions answered concerning how to properly take the medication or whether it could result in a harmful interaction with an existing drug. As such, there are many kinds of errors that pharmacists can make that may result in patient error, such as:
- Filling the wrong drug;
- Filling the wrong dosage of the prescribed drug;
- Preparing the drug incorrectly;
- Omitting information in the prescription, such as a warning about risks associated with using the drug; or
- Incorrectly answering a patient’s question concerning the proper way to take the drug, the risks associated with use of the drug, or the potential for a harmful interaction with an existing medication.
Patient Must Sustain an Injury for Pharmacist to be Liable
In order for a pharmacist to be liable in a medical malpractice lawsuit related to a pharmacy error or medication mistake, the patient must have suffered an injury caused by the pharmacist’s negligence. To be clear, a patient will only be able to hold a pharmacist accountable for an error if the pharmacist’s error caused harm. For example, if a pharmacist fills the wrong dosage of a drug but the patient realizes and contacts the pharmacy to correct the error before using the medication, and the patient is not delayed in taking the correct dosage of the drug, the patient will not be able to file a medical negligence claim against the pharmacist.
Contact Our New Mexico Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you were harmed by a pharmacy error and need help filing a claim, one of our medical malpractice attorneys in Santa Fe can assist you. Contact Slate Stern Law for more information.