Prescription Drug Errors Not Only Danger For Children

The recent children’s drug settlement exemplifies the risk associated with giving any medications to children. As an Atlanta medication error attorney, I am frequently contacted by parents who have filled prescriptions for their children at local pharmacies, only to realize after giving the medication to their kids that they were either dispensed the wrong medication or given the correct medication but in the wrong dosage.

Many pharmacy errors which result in hospitalization are caused by lack of technician training, lack of sufficient quality control that ensures that the prescription that is dispensed is actually what was ordered by the doctor and a simple lack of attentiveness on the part of the pharmacy team involved in filling the prescription. Unfortunately, parents are seldom in a position to catch the pharmacy error and the result can often lead to serious injury to the child and hospitalization.

Among the largest pharmacies in the United States are Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart, Kroger, Safeway, Target, Publix, Costco, and Sam’s Club. Many of these chains compete on price. This puts tremendous pressures on their pharmacists and technicians to fill more prescriptions in the same amount of time and for the same pay. This often can lead to errors. Errors, theoretically, should be detected in many cases by the quality control systems in place. These would include protocols that the workers in the pharmacy are supposed to follow to uncover prescription errors before the medication is dispensed to the patient, and computer-related programs which are designed to catch errors such as drug interactions or allergies that are not detected by the pharmacist or pharmacy technicians. I say, “in theory” because many of the protocols and computer aides are ignored by the over-worked employees, which effectively renders them useless.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we find errors being made in smaller pharmacies that are not part of a chain, which go undetected allowing the wrong medication to be dispensed because these smaller pharmacies do not utilize any of the protocols or computer aides that the larger pharmacies have in place (but often fail to use). Either way, the prescription errors are not detected.

If you were given the wrong medication for your child and this has resulted in serious injury and hospitalization, you should know your legal options. Please call Robert J. Fleming immediately on (404) 923-7497 for a free and confidential case evaluation. Attorney Robert J. Fleming has been handling wrongful death cases, prescription errors, personal injury cases, dental malpractice and medical malpractice lawsuits for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 20 years in and around Atlanta, Georgia and its surrounding areas, including Alpharetta, Austell, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, College Park, Conyers, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you have been seriously injured and would like quality legal representation, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.