We recently posted that pharmacists owe a duty of care to patients filling their prescriptions in Maryland pharmacies. Pharmacists owe a duty to accurately fill these prescriptions. Maryland law, however, increases the duty of care owed to Medicare pharmacy patients in the state by requiring pharmacists to offer to discuss…
In the past year Americans have watched the federal government bail out failing banks, and the lagging automobile industry. As the economic downturn progresses, the flow of government funds into the flagging commercial sector is likely to continue. The pharmacists’ lobby has added its name to a growing list of…
In preparing a recent case for an 8 year child and her parents, I came across an interesting report from The Joint Commission. (The Joint Commission is a private organization that works closely with the Federal Government to evaluate the quality of care being provided by hospitals.) The report indicated…
Recently, University of Massachusetts Medical School researchers concluded that medication errors are increasingly common at outpatient cancer clinics across the country. The report reviewed nearly 11,000 prescriptions dispensed at adult and pediatric oncology clinics nationwide. The research published in the Journal of Oncology, found medication errors in 18% of pediatric…
Maryland law does not require pharmacies to report medication errors. The Maryland Board of Pharmacy, the body that licenses pharmacists in the state, relies upon inspections and consumer complaints to assist in keeping drug stores and pharmacies operating safely. The Maryland Board of Pharmacy provides a pharmacy error complaint form…
The Federal District Court in Northern Ohio recently decided an employment law case that highlights the potential for frequent hospital pharmacy errors committed by inexperienced hospital pharmacists. In Colvin v. Veterans Administration Medical Center, the Federal District Court decided that a hospital properly dismissed an inexperienced hospital pharmacist for his…
Yesterday, a potential client called me concerning injuries that she sustained when a pharmacist employed by a Baltimore hospital had made a pharmacy error which resulted in her being given the wrong medication for an extended period of time. This middle aged woman explained that she received the wrong antibiotic…
According to the National Coordinating Counsel for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP), medication errors kill more Americans annually, than work place accidents. Maryland lawyers who pursue prescription error cases recognize the financial and human impact that errantly filled prescriptions have on the citizens of this state. Pharmacy negligence…
It is clear that patients are put in danger by simple things such as penmanship and the use of inconsistent abbreviations. This must change. Maryland pharmacy negligence attorneys work with clients to hold negligent pharmacist responsible for the injuries that they cause across the state. Your doctor hands you a…
The Maryland Pharmacists Association Newsletter for November, 2008 reported that in the last seven years, in hospitals alone, anticoagulation medication errors occurred in 70,000 instances. In twenty-six of those instances, the patient died. The report goes on to state that “[h]eparin and warfarin are consistently ranked among the 10 most…