Dispensing Errors in Community Pharmacy

Assistance with Dispensing Errors in Community Pharmacy

What are we talking about with Dispensing Errors in Community Pharmacy? Moreover: does this comprise a sort of medical negligence claim, exactly? The answer is a resounding ‘YES,’ particularly because of the risk to patient safety.

Receiving the wrong medication at the pharmacy is more than merely inconvenient. The prescription should take into account various factors, including a patient’s:

• weight and size;
• physical health, and;
• any/all known allergies.

Thus, a mistake can make you incredibly ill and, in some instances, even threaten your life.

What are Dispensing Errors Negligence?

Pharmacies have strict processes to ensure all prescriptions are filled correctly. However, sometimes dispensing errors are made which can have dire consequences. Prescription negligence can be caused either by the practitioner who wrote the prescription, or the dispenser who filled it. Examples can include:

A pharmacist issuing the wrong brand of medication. If supplementing another brand, the pharmacist in charge should verify the ingredients are the same and check with the patient before issuing.

• • Dispensing a different strength of medication to the stated amount. Overly strong medicine can cause illness and side-effects through overdose. Meanwhile, medicine of insufficient power can lead to a person’s conditioning worsening.
  • Combining some medications can have an adverse effect. The prescribing practitioner should always check you are not already taking any medication from a different source. For example, say that your dentist prescribes painkillers for pain after dental treatment. However, it will combine poorly with a medication you’re already taking for a separate condition.

• Not taking existing conditions, such as pregnancy or heart disease, into account when prescribing.
• Allowing a repeat prescription to continue for too long without a check-up from the prescribing practitioner.

Above all, dispensing errors reported over the years suggest that you should act if you suspect it occurs.

How Can We Help you fight Dispensing Errors in Community Pharmacy?

It is not merely enough to fall ill from taking medicine. In short, a claim needs to prove there was negligence. Accordingly, that’s where the help of professional clinical error solicitors.

If your claim assessment is successful, our partnered solicitors can investigate your case and collate the evidence you need for your claim. They will look at the stage of each error, include among them:

• who makes the prescribing error;
• who dispenses it, and;
• what information they have access to (such as known allergies, or other medications you are taking) to identify where the error occurs.

Finally, we will gather evidence from independent experts to prove that you have suffered as a result.

The law calculates prescription error compensation to cover any expenses you incur as a direct result. For instance, it will account for losing pay due to time off work. It doesn’t matter whether a private or an NHS practitioner writes the prescription, or how large the company making the error is. Either way, you deserve adequate recompense if you have been a victim of a dispensing error.

Time Limits

Medical negligence cases should begin within three years of the mistake, or identification of the illness or condition as being the result of the error. If a patient is under the age of 18 when the error occurs, they have until the day before their 21st birthday to lodge the claim.

Obtaining the maximum compensation for a medication errors claim is not a quick process. However, our partnered solicitors will keep you up to speed on the progress of your case. They will advise you upfront whether we believe you have a good chance of success in claiming compensation. To that end, they know it is not in your best interests financially or emotionally to pursue an un-winnable case.

Contact The Medical Negligence Experts today for a FREE claim assessment.

About our dispensing errors negligence claims team

We work with some of the UK’s top lawyers who take on medical professionals every day. But we’re also people with families of our own who don’t want to see bad practices in prescribing medication.

Contact The Medical Negligence Experts today, and ask how we can help you.

Expert Dispensing Errors Negligence solicitors working for you

We specialise in helping victims of medical negligence claim the compensation they deserve.

Our partnered solicitors work on a No Win No Fee* basis, meaning if they don’t win your Dispensing Errors Negligence case, you don’t pay! Once you make contact, your experienced solicitor will work to recover the maximum compensation you are entitled to.

*No Win No Fee: Typically, customers pay 25% including VAT of the compensation amount that is recovered by our third-party law firms, although this is subject to your individual circumstances and the actual fee may be more or less than this. Termination fees may apply if you do not keep to the terms of the agreement.

Whether you are ready to make a medical negligence claim, or you would just like a free conversation with a professional, we have experts on hand to give you all the information you need. Take the first step to getting what you deserve by filling in our quick contact form and we will call you back whenever suits you.