Prescription medical negligence can cause health problems for patients
Yesterday the worrying news broke that more than one in six patients who are put on medication after seeing their GP are given a prescription containing an error (The Guardian).
The General Medical Council (GMC) study looked at prescriptions over the course of a year. Shockingly it found that one in 20 had some kind of error or monitoring of the patient to ensure the drug was not causing other problems was inadequate. The majority of errors were categorised as oversight rather than mistakes, such as a GP failing to write down the correct dose, however some were more serious, with 1.6 million containing an error considered severe.
Most of these prescription errors will cause no harm whatsoever to the patient but a small percentage will cause serious injury. It is these cases that we see as medical negligence solicitors as if significant health problems are caused to the victim, they can be left with little option but to pursue a claim for compensation.
Prescription errors can occur when an overdose of a drug is prescribed, a patient is given the wrong medication altogether, or they are given medication that they are allergic to. Adequate monitoring of patients on long-term medication is crucial so that any adverse reactions or other problems are detected as soon as possible and changes made where necessary.
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