Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog

Prescribing Error Linked To Newborn Death After Wrong Drug Selected

January 31, 2026 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A medication mistake in a hospital can feel unthinkable, especially in a neonatal unit where every dose is tiny and every change matters. A recent report from London described a newborn who died after a prescribing error, where a doctor selected the wrong medication from a drop-down menu and the baby received an overdose. This did not happen in Maryland, Washington, D.C., or Virginia, yet Maryland families can still take something important from it: errors can start with one click, and the aftermath often involves confusing explanations, shifting paperwork, and unanswered questions.

The hardest part for many families is not only the loss. It is the feeling that the system moves forward while you sit with a thousand details you never got to understand. Knowing how these incidents usually get reviewed, and what information tends to matter, can help you feel less stuck.

What The Report Described About The Hospital Error

What Maryland And D.C Families Should Know When A Pharmacy Gives The Wrong Medication

December 29, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Pharmacy errors often come to light only after a patient becomes seriously ill. A pill that looks slightly different, a new prescription that causes unexpected symptoms, or a sudden medical emergency can be the first sign something went wrong. In Maryland and Washington, D.C., dispensing the wrong medication or the wrong dose is one of the most common pharmacy errors, and it can cause severe harm before anyone realizes the mistake.

Families usually want to know two things right away: how this happened and whether it should have been prevented. In many cases, the answer to the second question is yes. Pharmacies have clear duties to verify prescriptions, check for interactions, and ensure patients receive exactly what was ordered.

How Wrong Medication Errors Typically Occur

Flu Shot Pharmacy Errors And Vaccine Injury Claims For Maryland Patients

November 13, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Pharmacies across Maryland play a major role in seasonal flu vaccination, especially during the busy fall and winter months. Most visits go smoothly, yet some patients suffer serious shoulder injuries or other complications because the shot was given incorrectly or the wrong vaccine was used. National reports show growing compensation awards for injuries such as SIRVA, a shoulder condition linked to improper injection technique, and highlight ongoing litigation involving vaccine administration errors.

If a pharmacist or technician mis-administers a flu shot, gives the wrong dose, or injects the vaccine in the wrong location, you may have a compensation claim. The path to recovery can involve both the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and, in some situations, a state malpractice or negligence case.

<strong> How Do Flu Shot Errors Happen?</strong>

During peak flu season, pharmacy staff handle a high volume of patients. That pressure increases the risk of mistakes, including:

Injecting too high on the shoulder, into the joint capsule rather than the deltoid muscle;
Using the wrong needle length for the patient’s body type;
Confusing vaccine products or doses when multiple shots are stocked in the same fridge; and
Failing to verify a patient’s identity or allergy history before injection.

Pharmacy Times recently discussed cases where patients developed severe shoulder pain, limited mobility, and long-term disability after routine shots, including a million-dollar award to a health care worker whose arm injury prevented her from performing daily tasks. These stories show that flu shot injuries are real and can be life-changing.

Maryland Patients at Risk When Recalled Medications Reach Pharmacies

October 23, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The recent Class I recall of cefazolin, an antibiotic used to fight serious infections, highlights the dangers that patients face when unsafe drugs reach pharmacies. The Food and Drug Administration flagged the recall after contamination was detected that could cause severe or even fatal reactions. For Maryland residents, the incident raises an important question: what happens if you or a loved one receives a recalled or unsafe medication? Speaking with a qualified attorney as soon as possible can help you protect your health and pursue accountability.

How National Recalls Connect to Local Pharmacy Errors

A nationwide recall may originate from a manufacturing facility, but pharmacies are often the last line of defense before a dangerous drug reaches patients. Pharmacists are responsible for tracking recall notices, removing affected lots from shelves, and notifying customers who may have received the medication. If a pharmacy fails to act on a recall notice, you may be given a contaminated or defective drug that puts your health in jeopardy. Such oversight can form the basis of a pharmacy error claim.

Common Pharmacy Errors Involve Medications That Look or Sound Alike

September 30, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Pharmacy mistakes often occur when a drug’s name closely resembles another. These mix-ups can happen at any pharmacy, even those that claim to have safety measures in place. In Maryland, when a patient is harmed because of a medication error, legal action may be available. Certain medications are more frequently confused due to their nearly identical names or packaging.

If someone in your family is harmed after receiving the wrong prescription, you may be able to hold the pharmacy accountable. Maryland law requires proof that a duty was breached and that the mistake directly caused harm. Learning which medications are commonly involved in these errors can help protect you and your loved ones.

Why Are Medications So Frequently Confused?

Several drugs look or sound alike when written or spoken. These similarities can cause pharmacists and technicians to dispense the wrong one, especially during busy hours or under distraction. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices has compiled an extensive list of these look-alike and sound-alike pairs. Examples include amlodipine versus amiloride, and hydroxyzine versus hydralazine. Each pair includes drugs used for very different conditions.

Even experienced pharmacy staff sometimes mistake one for the other, particularly if the label is unclear, the name is misspelled, or the prescription is phoned in. These situations increase the risk of giving out the wrong medication. Research shows that such errors account for a significant portion of reported pharmacy mistakes.

Many pharmacies try to reduce this risk by using a system known as tall man lettering. This strategy capitalizes on the distinct part of similar drug names to help differentiate them. For example, prednisone and prednisolone are displayed differently to catch the eye.

Fertility Clinic Error Destroys Embryos and Raises Questions About Medical Accountability in Maryland

September 22, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Trust plays a central role in fertility treatment. When a clinic mishandles embryos or makes a preventable error, the impact reaches beyond medical consequences. A recent case involving the destruction of viable embryos has brought renewed attention to how medical professionals handle the profoundly personal and highly sensitive process of in vitro fertilization. If you experienced a similar loss in Maryland, you may have the right to take legal action and hold the responsible parties accountable.

Embryo Loss After Preventable IVF Mistake

A woman undergoing IVF learned that her embryos had been destroyed before transfer due to a critical clinic error. The mistake involved the use of an incorrect storage solution, which rendered the embryos unusable. After months of hormone therapy, physical discomfort, and emotional preparation, her path to parenthood came to an abrupt and devastating halt.

This kind of error is not rare. It often stems from inadequate procedures, poor communication among staff, or outdated safety protocols. The process of preparing and storing embryos requires absolute precision and accuracy. Any lapse can cause permanent harm.

Families place enormous trust in fertility clinics to care for their future. When that trust is broken, the fallout can involve emotional distress, financial loss, and years of lost opportunity. Maryland law acknowledges the severity of this harm and permits families to pursue justice when a provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care.

Understanding Your Rights After a Dangerous Pharmacy Error

August 12, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If a pharmacy gives you the wrong medication or the wrong dosage, you may have grounds to file a claim for damages. Pharmacy errors remain one of the most preventable causes of serious injury in Maryland. A mistake as simple as a swapped label or a misread prescription can result in hospitalization, long-term complications, or worse. When you rely on a pharmacy to dispense safe medication, you deserve accountability if that trust is broken.

National studies show that thousands of dispensing errors occur in the United States every year. These errors include giving out the wrong drug, the wrong strength, or incorrect instructions. In many cases, the medications involved look or sound alike. That means a patient who expected a blood pressure pill could end up with a diabetes drug, or a child’s antibiotic could be confused with an adult-only medication. Even one incorrect dose may trigger a dangerous reaction.

Why Pharmacy Errors Continue to Happen

Pharmacy Mix-Up Highlights the Dangers of Medication Errors Pose to Children

July 14, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A recent pharmacy error nearly exposed a young child to a life-threatening dose of opioids after the wrong prescription was dispensed. The intended medication was a stimulant commonly used to treat ADHD in children, but what was handed over instead was a highly potent opioid, hydromorphone. Fortunately, a parent noticed the mistake before the child took any of the pills. The outcome could have been catastrophic. Dispensing errors can and do happen, even at large, reputable pharmacies. When those mistakes involve medications with a high risk of overdose or abuse, the results can be devastating. If your child has been harmed due to a pharmacy’s negligence, a Maryland pharmaceutical error attorney can help you understand your rights and pursue justice.

When a Simple Mistake Becomes a Life-Threatening Emergency

Hydromorphone is not a drug intended for casual misuse. It is an opioid with a potency that is several times stronger than morphine and can lead to rapid respiratory depression if taken improperly. The National Library of Medicine warns that even a small dose can cause overdose or death if ingested by someone without opioid tolerance, particularly a child.

The stimulant medication that was initially prescribed for the child is often taken by pediatric patients for years and is typically well-tolerated when monitored. Swapping it with a drug used to treat severe pain in adult patients is not just a mix-up; it is a near-tragedy. What occurred in this case was a failure in one of the most basic duties of pharmaceutical care: verifying that the correct medication is administered to the intended patient.

Maryland Medication Errors Continue to Harm Patients Despite New Technology

June 22, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Despite significant medical advancements, pharmaceutical errors still affect thousands of people in Maryland and across the country. Even in controlled hospital environments, patients continue to receive the wrong drug or the wrong dose. These events can cause severe injury, long-term complications, or death. In late May, new research out of the University of Washington shed light on a tool that may help reduce these errors in the future. However, technology alone will not address the root causes that lead to medication mistakes being so common. For individuals already harmed by these errors, accountability and legal support remain vital.

Medication Mistakes Are Still One of the Most Common Patient Safety Failures

Every year, millions of prescriptions are filled in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and pharmacies. Even when labeled and prepared carefully, errors happen at every stage from ordering, mixing, labeling, and delivering, to final administration. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 million people in the U.S. are harmed by medication errors each year, and at least one person dies daily because of them.

Patients Should Pay Close Attention to the List of Recalled Drugs

May 7, 2025 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Prescription errors are often associated with a pharmacist grabbing the wrong bottle or misreading a dosage. However, some mistakes begin far earlier at the manufacturing stage. A recent nationwide recall involving nearly 40 generic medications is a critical reminder that pharmacy errors can originate in the production process, with consequences for patients across Maryland and beyond.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a sweeping recall of medications manufactured by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. The recall includes common treatments for high blood pressure, seizures, cholesterol, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. These drugs were sold throughout the United States, many through local pharmacies, with some reaching consumers through online retailers like Amazon and Walmart.

Why the Glenmark Medications Were Recalled

The FDA labeled this as a Class II recall, which means the medications pose a risk of temporary or medically reversible health issues. The agency did not specify whether any serious injuries had occurred as a result of these drugs. However, the underlying cause of the recall points to serious lapses in manufacturing standards.