Indianapolis Prescription Error Attorneys
When prescribing medications, doctors are expected to provide a certain level of care and competence for their patients. Errors can occur in this process if a doctor is not giving a patient adequate attention. If a physician prescribes the wrong medication, the unknown side effects can be serious. Interactions between medications and/or with other medical conditions can create life-threatening results. These errors can injure innocent victims who have placed their trust in healthcare professionals. If you have been injured because of a prescription drug error, the compassionate attorneys at Hankey Marks & Crider may be able to help you find justice.
If you were prescribed the wrong medication and suffered an injury as a result, the Indianapolis prescription error attorneys at Hankey Marks & Crider are here to assist you in holding the responsible healthcare professionals accountable. With our help, you may be able to recover money to pay for your resulting medical expenses, lost wages, and other harms. Call us today at (317) 634-8565 for a free and confidential initial case evaluation.
Do I Need a Prescription Error Attorney?
If a prescription drug error has caused devastating consequences in your life, you may have questions about how to recover compensation for your injuries. Prescription error cases can be complicated and require a high level of technical knowledge, such as the side effects of the drugs prescribed and how they interact with other medications or medical conditions.
It is best to hire an attorney who has experience in prescription error matters to handle your claim for you. An experienced prescription error attorney knows how to gather the necessary evidence to prove it. Frequently, experts may need to be obtained to provide insight into the particular reason an incorrect prescription drug caused your injury. Medical malpractice lawyers often have relationships with medical experts who can provide this testimony for you. They will know what evidence to request from the opposition during discovery, and can negotiate with insurance on your behalf as well. With a lawyer’s help, you are far more likely to receive the full amount of compensation you deserve.
Why Choose Hankey Marks & Crider to Handle My Case?
If you are searching for a prescription error attorney, you will want to make sure you choose the best legal advocate to help you recover from your injury. It is important to choose an attorney you feel comfortable working with and who can effectively represent you in settlement negotiations and in a trial if necessary. At Hankey Marks & Crider, we strive to keep you updated throughout the course of your case, and our primary concern is your best interest.
In addition to receiving accolades as top litigation lawyers, the attorneys at Hankey Marks & Crider have been providing legal representation to injured people for a combined total of 75 years. The firm’s founder, Charles D. Hankey, has been practicing law in Indiana for decades. With over forty years of experience, Mr. Hankey has the skills and knowledge to make a major difference in the outcome of your case. He has also been named as one of the “Top 100 Litigation Lawyers” in the state of Indiana for 2014 by the American Society of Legal Advocates.
Mr. Hankey and the rest of the legal team at Hankey Marks & Crider are devoted to ensuring that Indiana residents injured by prescription errors have legal advocates and a voice. With our track record of success in injury cases, we will fight to help you receive the compensation you deserve for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Types of Cases We Handle
Medication errors can occur in a number of ways. The following are a few of the most common errors that can cause injury to unsuspecting victims:
- Prescribing errors: This could involve prescribing the wrong drug, including when a doctor confuses the names of two prescription drugs that sound the same. A doctor could also prescribe the wrong amount, the wrong way to administer a drug, or even prescribe a drug to the wrong patient.
- Transcribing errors: This occurs when key information is left out of a prescription or details are written down incorrectly, including doses, frequencies, or times for prescription drugs to be taken.
- Dispensing errors: This could occur if a drug is prepared incorrectly, the incorrect dose of pills are dispensed, or something else goes wrong in the labeling process.
- Administration errors: This could involve anything from providing a patient with the incorrect medication to providing it at the wrong time or by the wrong method. It may also involve giving the drug to the incorrect patient or not giving it at all.
No matter the cause of your prescription error, the attorneys at Hankey Marks & Crider are prepared to investigate your case and determine whether a claim is possible. As with all medical malpractice lawsuits, your attorney must be able to prove that a healthcare professional was negligent. Negligence has a very specific meaning under the law, and proving it is essential to the success of your claim.
Every doctor has a duty to treat patients according to the standards that are accepted by other doctors. This is called the standard of care. To prove negligence, you – or your lawyer – will have to show that the healthcare professional behaved in a way that a reasonable and competent person in similar circumstances would not have. At Hankey Marks & Crider, we can get in touch with medical experts to prove that the healthcare professional in your case violated the standard of care.
Frequently Asked Questions About Prescription Errors
Medical malpractice is an extremely complicated area of the law. If you were a victim of a prescription error, you likely feel overwhelmed and confused. To ease some worries, we have provided the answers to some common questions we hear at our firm below. For answers to any specific questions about your case that you may have, do not hesitate to contact us at (317) 634-8565.
What is a medication error?
The FDA defines a medication error as involving a preventable event. When medication is in the control of a healthcare provider or patient, and would be inappropriate or cause harm to the patient, an error has been made. A medication error, according to the FDA, does not involve the abuse or intentional misuse of a drug by a healthcare professional or patient.
What is the difference between a preventable and non-preventable event?
A preventable event is a mistake that could have been avoided. Typically, if enough staff were available or the healthcare professionals were paying attention to all of the factors that go into prescribing and dispensing medication, then an adverse drug event would not have happened. At least half of all adverse drug events, which include medication errors, are thought to be preventable.
On the other hand, a non-preventable error is something that healthcare professionals treating a patient could not have foreseen. Things such as allergic reactions when there has been no reason to know of any allergies would be a non-preventable event. If, however, a patient has a known allergy that is documented, a doctor is responsible for prescribing medication to take that factor into account.
In general, you will only be able to recover compensation for preventable events. Hankey Marks & Crider will gather evidence and make arguments to show that your injury was preventable.
Who is liable for a prescription error?
Anyone who is involved in prescribing, dispensing, and administering medication can be held liable if they have been negligent. This includes doctors, nurses, hospitals, pharmacies, pharmacists, and even manufacturers of drugs in certain cases. An experienced lawyer from Hankey Marks & Crider can investigate your case to identify all the possible liable parties in your situation.
Prescription Error Statistics
It is important to understand that medication errors are quite common. Additionally, elderly individuals and people with limited health care services are more likely to experience medication errors. Often an adverse effect is minimal for a patient, but statistics show the alarming rate at which errors occur.
Emergency rooms are the third most common source of medication errors. The average hospital patient suffers at least one medication error every day, and thirty percent of patients have at least one medication discrepancy when they are discharged from the hospital. At least half of all medication errors that occur in the hospital are preventable.
If you are a victim of a prescription error, please know that you are not alone. At Hankey Marks & Crider, we are here to assist you in recovering the compensation you deserve so that you can return to living your life again.
Contact Us
When a prescription error has completely changed your life, you need a safe place to turn to for support and legal advocacy. At Hankey Marks & Crider, we are committed to fighting tirelessly for our clients.
If you have been injured by a prescription error, you may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical expenses. Contact the Indianapolis hospital negligence attorneys at Hankey Marks & Crider at (317) 634-8565 today for a free consultation.