Pursing A Wrongful Death Lawsuit Due To Improperly Prescribed Medication

When a person takes a medication, they take it for granted that the physician or pharmacist has given them the right medicine. However, medication errors can be very dangerous and may even cause deaths. Pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit is important in this situation.

Medication Errors Are Startlingly Common

The shocking thing about medication errors is that they are wildly common in the medical field. For example, one study found that prescription and distribution errors caused injuries to seven million people every year. It also caused an estimated $21 million in damages to the medical industry and to their patients.

Sometimes, these medication errors are very minor or are spotted right away. In this type of situation, there will be no damages and everybody will walk away a little embarrassed but uninjured. Unfortunately, medicine errors don't always end this way. Sometimes, they end in the loss of life.

How These Errors Often Lead To Death

Medication errors vary in severity but can often lead to serious personal injury and death. For example, if a person was supposed to be prescribed medication for lowering blood pressure but received one that increased their blood pressure, they could trigger a heart attack, stroke, or other severe and unexpected health problems.

The rampant occurrence of medication errors has become such a problem that it is estimated to be the third leading cause of death in the country. Thankfully, a wrongful death lawsuit is very possible in this scenario and can provide the loved one of the deceased with some compensation. However, proving liability may be hard.

Why Liability May Be Difficult To Track

The one good thing about this type of wrongful death lawsuit is that liability will always lie with the medical community. The person who died due to the error is almost never considered liable for their injury. However, the exact source of the liability may be difficult to track.

For example, the doctor who prescribed the medication may be to blame. However, they may have gone off of incorrect information given to them by nurses when prescribing the medication. And there is also a chance that the pharmacist who filled out the medication made a mistake and put the wrong pills in the bottle.

So if you lost a loved one due to a medication error that should have been easy to avoid, don't hesitate to look into wrongful death attorney services right away. These professionals can help you get the money that you deserve.