Common Types of Pharmacy Errors

If you have received a prescription that has a dosage error, come to The Grossman Law Firm where we seek justice for you. New Jersey pharmacies make mistakes that are fatal; let us help you hold them accountable.

MR. SCOTT GROSSMAN: One common example of a pharmacy error is where the dosage prescribed by your physician is improperly labeled by the pharmacist, resulting in–for example, your doctor gives you 0.5 milligrams of a drug. The pharmacist misreads it as 5 milligrams. The drug is supposed to be given twice a day, that’s 10 times the dosage recommended by your own doctor. Consequences can be fatal or very serious. People often come to me and they say to me Scott, what happened was that they mixed up the name of the medication. So instead of getting, for example, Zyrtec, I got something for–Zyrtec for allergies, I got Zyprexa, which would be something for schizophrenia. Very, very frightening. Very scary. Other things that can occur is that they could accidentally right down on your pill bottle the wrong amount that you should be taking. So in other words, they may say that you’re supposed to take X amount of dosage X amount of times a day. So for example, your doctor may write you a prescription that says you need to take this three times a day. Well the pharmacist may transpose that incorrectly and write taken PRN, or as needed. So you go ahead and you take it, or a loved one takes it, as you feel you need to, which could ultimately result in an overdose. Obviously depending on the patient’s age, depending on the condition, it can be extremely, extremely serious. Most importantly, we all have bad handwriting. Lawyers notoriously have bad handwriting, and so do physicians. It’s common sense, if the pharmacist looks at the prescription, and when he reads it he isn’t 100% certain what your physician wrote on that pad, he has an obligation to call your doctor up and to speak with that doctor to clarify what it is that you’re going to take. NARRATOR: Consultations are always free and confidential. Please call 877-99-NJLAW. That’s 877-996-5539. Or email us at the link below. You are not responsible for a fee, unless The Grossman Law Firm recovers on your behalf.