Seattle Medication Prescription Error Lawyer

Millions of patients rely on their doctors to prescribe them the correct medications and dosages to treat their ailments or control symptoms. Physicians are ethically and legally obligated to prescribe medications according to accepted medical industry standards of care. This involves carefully checking a patient’s medical background, making an accurate diagnosis, and writing down the appropriate and correct prescription.

When a health care provider gets a prescription wrong, the patient can suffer serious consequences from the error. Prescription errors cause hundreds of patient deaths each year, as well as thousands of injuries and preventable health complications. If you suspect a doctor of prescribing the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong formulation, wrong strength or wrong frequency, contact Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC for a free consultation. You may have a medical malpractice claim in Seattle.

Why Clients Choose Us

Do You Need Legal Advocacy?

Medication prescription error cases fall under the umbrella of medical malpractice law. This is a highly complex practice area in Washington that can be difficult to navigate alone. Protect your rights as an injured patient by hiring an attorney as soon as possible. A personal injury lawyer can go to work on protecting your rights from the start. Lawyers know how to communicate with insurance companies and negotiate for fair settlement or verdict amounts. You can focus on recovering from your prescription error incident while your lawyer handles the legal side of things.

Who Is Liable?

Determining liability, or legal responsibility, for a prescription error is one of the first steps in bringing a civil claim. Your attorney cannot file a lawsuit without first naming the defendant. The party that is liable for your injuries will be the one whose actions were their proximate cause. In other words, you would not have your injuries were it not for the actions or omissions of the defendant. The liable party will depend on the circumstances of your case.

In most situations, a doctor will be liable for a prescription error. Physicians are the health care practitioners responsible for recommending and writing prescriptions. It is a doctor’s duty to safely prescribe medications based on an analysis of the patient’s medical history and current medications. Making a mistake such as failing to check the patient’s background, failing to look for dangerous drug interactions, or prescribing the wrong dosage or drug could lead to serious injury to the patient.

If the doctor was operating as an independent contractor, his or her personal insurance might be your only outlet for financial recovery. If, however, the doctor was an employee of the overarching health care facility, the hospital could be vicariously liable. Another potential defendant for a medication error could be the pharmacy if the mistake occurred at the filling stage. Filling a prescription incorrectly in terms of the wrong patient, medication and/or dosage could be disastrous. The pharmacy would be liable for these incidents.

Contact a Medication Mistake Lawyer in Seattle

Medication prescription errors are unfortunately common in the health care industry. If a reasonable and prudent medical professional would have been able to prevent the error that caused your injury or a loved one’s death, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit in Washington. Find out if you have a valid case during a free consultation at Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC. Call (503) 226-6361 to reach our nearest law office today.