Lake Charles Pharmacy Malpractice Lawyer

Lake Charles Pharmacy Malpractice Attorney

When filled and administered correctly, prescription drugs can prevent and treat many medical ailments and problems, contributing to a better quality of life for many patients. All drugs have the potential to be dangerous or even deadly when prescribed, filled or administered in a negligent or incorrect manner. If you or a loved one has sustained serious injury, or if your loved one died, due to a pharmaceutical error, contact Lee M. Schwalben, M.D., J.D., LLC Lake Charles pharmacy malpractice lawyer.

Lee M. Schwalben, M.D., J.D., LLC. is an attorney in Lake Charles, Louisiana, who has practiced medicine. As your Lake Charles pharmacy malpractice lawyer, he knows how to find out if a medical mistake was made because of his knowledge of both medicine and the law. Pursuing a claim can help you recover compensation for medical expenses, lost income, and other damages, providing financial relief and justice.

Protecting Your Rights And Interests After A Medical Mistake In Lake Charles

If your prescribed medication is not working correctly, if you are experiencing serious side effects or if you or a loved one has suffered injury or illness in Lake Charles, Louisiana, get an attorney involved on your side as soon as possible. Attorney Schwalben is adept at understanding how pharmaceutical errors occur, the medical outcome of such mistakes and the ways to obtain fair compensation for your injuries, pain, suffering and other losses.

Pharmacy errors and pharmacist negligence can occur for various reasons, but some of the common reasons include:

• Dispensing the wrong medication. This is one of the most serious forms of pharmacy malpractice. Pharmacists can confuse medications with similar names, misread doctors’ handwriting, or pull incorrect medications from pharmacy shelves. This can worsen the original condition or create new complications.
• Dispensing the right medicine but in the wrong amount. When pharmacists dispense the wrong amount of medication, patients face serious risks from either under-treatment or overdose. This error can manifest in several ways and can have serious implications. This is especially true for drugs that have a small margin of error, otherwise known as a narrow therapeutic window.
• Providing the wrong instructions with a medication. This can lead to improper use and serious health consequences. These errors can include incorrect instructions on times to dose, how to administer the drug, or warnings about food interactions or activities to avoid. This type of error is dangerous with medications that require specific timing or certain methods of administration.
• Overlooking reasons to avoid a certain medication. Pharmacists have a duty to screen for things that make certain medications dangerous, like drug interactions, allergies, and medical conditions. They need to check patient histories and recognize when a prescribed medication might be inappropriate due to a patient’s individual characteristics.
• Administering a defective or dangerous medication. Dispensing drugs that are compromised, expired, or recalled can lead to safety issues. Pharmacists have to keep proper storage conditions, review expiration dates, and stay current with FDA recalls and warnings.

Human error is at the core of pharmaceutical errors. A physician’s handwriting may be difficult to read, a pharmacy tech may misread a pill with a similar name, patients’ prescription bottles may be mixed up.

When a doctor, pharmacist or other pharmacy employee makes a mistake that results in serious injury or wrongful death, Lee M. Schwalben, M.D., J.D., can protect your rights and interests.

You Have Too Much To Lose ~ Call For Help Today

Medical malpractice attorney Lee M. Schwalben used to practice medicine, and his knowledge of writing prescriptions can very helpful to you and your family. Call his Lake Charles office at 337-494-5757 to schedule a free initial consultation. You may also send him an email.

FAQs

Q: What Is Pharmacy Malpractice?

A: Pharmacy malpractice happens when a pharmacist fails to meet their duty of care or the generally acceptable way to behave in a certain situation, which causes a patient to be harmed in the process. Even minor errors like providing the right medication with the wrong strength can be considered malpractice if it leads to the patient getting injured or having adverse health effects.

Q: What Can I Receive in a Pharmacy Malpractice Case?

A: What you can receive in a pharmacy malpractice case depends on the situation. If you suffered injuries from the error, you could receive damages in the form of medical expenses for treatment. If they caused you to miss work, lost wages and earning capacity could also be included. Other things like pain and suffering and the cost of additional medication used to correct the error might also be compensated, depending on the circumstances.

Q: What Evidence Do I Use in a Pharmacy Malpractice Case?

A: The evidence used in a pharmacy malpractice case has to prove that the pharmacist acted in a way that was negligent and caused you harm. Evidence can include things like prescription or medical records, documentation of injuries, professional testimony, and even video footage. A pharmacy malpractice attorney can work with healthcare providers and pharmacy professionals to build cases for their clients.

Q: What Are the Most Common Pharmacy Errors?

A: The most common pharmacy errors include the pharmacist dispensing the wrong drug or doing so at the incorrect dosage. If patients are on other medications, the pharmacist needs to understand whether the prescribed drugs could cause an adverse interaction. If they do not do this, then this could be considered an error that results in malpractice. Many errors go unreported, so patients need to carefully check their prescriptions and ask questions.

Don’t Wait to Seek Legal Help

Pharmacy malpractice cases require specific experience in both medical and pharmaceutical regulations. Our firm’s deep understanding of pharmacy operations, combined with our network of witnesses, gives us the upper edge to handle these complicated cases. Schedule a consultation with Lee M. Schwalben, M.D., J.D., LLC, to discuss your case with a caring and knowledgeable attorney.