Pharmacy and Medication Errors

Medication errors are becoming more and more common in our country. Serious injuries and even death can result from a prescription drug being administered improperly. These medication errors occur in the hospital or in the doctor’s office or through a retail or mail-order pharmacy. Mr. Layser and Mr. Freiwald have been course planners and lecturers for a continuing legal education seminar on medication error.

The firm has handled numerous significant cases involving medication errors. A few of the recent cases include the following:

• Mr. Freiwald obtained a seven-figure settlement for the estate of a woman who was given a dye medication as part of a diagnostic study. She had indicated on her health history form that she was allergic to iodine. Unfortunately, her physicians did not read the form she filled out before injecting her with the dye, which happened to contain iodine.
• Mr. Layser obtained a six–figure settlement for the wrongful death of an elderly woman who was prescribed a medication that was inappropriate given other medications she was taking. Because of the negligent prescription, she was put into an irreversible hypoglycemic coma and died.
• Mr. Freiwald obtained a high-six figure settlement for the estate of an elderly woman who suffered massive internal bleeding following an overdose of Coumadin, a blood-thinning medication.
• Mr. Freiwald obtained a $6.3 million verdict for the parents of a 20 year old boy who had been placed on Depakote, an anti-seizure medication. His neurologist had failed to monitor him with required blood testing. The young man went on to develop irreversible liver toxicity and died.
• Mr. Freiwald obtained a six-figure settlement against a mail-order pharmacy for negligently filling a prescription for anti-rejection medication. The patient was a young boy who had undergone a heart transplant for a congenital heart defect. The surgery had been successful, but because of the carelessly prepared medication, the boy suffered acute rejection of the transplanted heart.