When you visit a pharmacy with a prescription that needs to be filled, you would expect to experience a safe, effective service. But, what happens if a pharmacy has made a mistake and you have been given the wrong medication? If you have taken the wrong medication or taken medication in the wrong dosage or at the wrong time, due to a pharmacy prescription error, it could potentially cause you to suffer harm. If you have suffered avoidable harm because Tesco Pharmacy wrong medication negligence occurred you could consider making a Tesco Pharmacy wrong medication negligence claim.
In the sections of this guide is actionable advice on making a medical negligence claim of this type, including details of how pharmacy prescription mistakes could occur, what damage they could cause and how long you could have to make a claim for compensation. A medical negligence claim is similar to a personal injury claim in that you would be claiming compensation for avoidable harm due to someone else’s negligence. However, there are some differences between clinical negligence claims and personal injury claims, which is why choosing a specialist medical negligence lawyer could be of real benefit to you.
We hope you find the information contained in the guide of use. To benefit from specific advice relating to your case, or to begin a claim, you can get in touch with our team on 0800 652 3087.
Choose A Topic
- A Guide On Making A Wrong Medication Negligence Claim Against A Tesco Pharmacy
- What Are Prescription Errors By Pharmacies?
- Types Of Wrong Medication Or Prescription Errors
- Potential Effects Of Being Given The Wrong Medication
- Time Limits To Claim For Wrong Medication Negligence By A Pharmacy
- What Could You Claim? – Wrong Medication Negligence Calculator
- No Win No Fee Pharmacy Prescription Error Claims
- How The Medical Negligence Assist Team Could Help You
- Start A Claim Against A Pharmacy
- Further Information
A Guide On Making A Wrong Medication Negligence Claim Against A Tesco Pharmacy
If you have been prescribed medicine from the hospital or from your GP, you take the prescription to a pharmacy for them to fill it for you. You would expect to receive the medication from the prescription exactly as it is written up, but if you receive the wrong medication due to a pharmacy prescription error, this could be detrimental to your health. If a Tesco Pharmacy prescription error occurs causing you to suffer avoidable harm you could be entitled to claim compensation for the harm you’ve suffered.
Whether you have received medication that was incorrect because of a mix up with labelling, taken medication with out-of-date ingredients, or been given the wrong dose or type of medication, if you have suffered avoidable harm due to pharmacy wrong medication negligence, you could be entitled to claim compensation for the harm and the financial impact this has had on you.
In the below sections is guidance and information regarding making such claims, including talking through the types of pharmacy mistakes that could lead to medical negligence claims, and discussing why it could be a good idea to retain the services of a specialist medical negligence solicitor instead of a personal injury solicitor for this type of claim.
What Are Prescription Errors By Pharmacies?
Pharmacists have a duty of care to provide a safe, effective standard of care. Pharmacists should ensure that their services adhere to the standards required of them.
There should be procedures and control measures in place to ensure that pharmacy staff adhere to such standards, but if something goes wrong, and you are given the wrong medication because of pharmacy wrong medication negligence, it could cause you to receive:
- The wrong dosage of medication (too high or too low)
- The wrong instructions regarding how you should take the medication (spacing between doses, times of day you should avoid taking medication, for example)
- The wrong medication entirely
- Medication containing ingredients that are out of date or damaged
These could all cause you to suffer harm. If you have suffered harm because a Tesco Pharmacy prescription error occurred, you could possibly claim compensation for the harm you’ve suffered. We could help you to do this.
Types Of Wrong Medication Or Prescription Errors
There are different types of pharmacy wrong medication you could suffer. Some examples of pharmacy medication errors could include:
Delays To Providing A Prescription
If there is a delay in providing you with your prescription, this could cause your health condition to worsen. This could also make it harder to treat your condition and it could lead to your prognosis becoming worse than it would if you’d received your medication without delay. Good pharmacy medication management should include protocols to ensure that the supply chain of medication is robust.
Dangerous Interactions Between Dispensed Medications
If your pharmacist dispenses medications to you that interacts with other medication you are taking due to being given the wrong medication, this could cause you harm. If a pharmacist dispensed a patient the wrong medication due to errors in the pharmacy prescription process the pharmacist would not be aware of any potentially harmful interactions.
Allergic Reactions To Dispensed Drugs
If you visit a pharmacy regularly, they may already have a record of any allergies that you suffer, but even if they do not, they should ensure that medication dispensed is as it says on a prescription. If, for example, you are prescribed an antibiotic without penicillin in, because you are allergic to it, but the pharmacy dispenses medication with penicillin to you in error, this could cause a reaction.
Providing Dosages Which Are Not As Prescribed
When you are prescribed medication, the dosage should be calculated according to specific factors such as the severity of your condition, your weight or your age, for example. If your pharmacist dispenses a different dosage to that written on your prescription, it could cause you to suffer an overdose or could cause a condition or illness to be undertreated.
Providing A Different Medication To The One Prescribed
Taking medication that is not meant for you could mean your medical condition is not treated effectively, and it could cause you to suffer avoidable symptoms. Depending on the type of medication you’ve taken due to pharmacy wrong medication, those symptoms could range from minor to severe.
Providing Another Patient’s Medication
If you are provided with another person’s medication, this could mean you were taking a different dosage or different medication than you were supposed to be taking. This could cause a range of effects, such as those included in the section below.
Providing Medication That Was Out Of Date
If you were provided with medication that included out of date items, this could cause the medication to be less effective. In some cases, it could mean that the medication could contain bacteria, which could lead to infection.
Potential Effects Of Being Given The Wrong Medication
A variety of effects could be suffered by patients who have taken the wrong medication due to errors in the pharmacy prescription process. These could include cases where injured parties suffered:
Undertreatment of a medical condition or illness – If you take the wrong medication or the right medication at too low a dosage, this could lead to the condition you were suffering with to be inadequately treated. This might mean your illness gets worse, and it could become more difficult to treat. You might require more invasive treatment if this happens, or it could lead to longer recovery time or poorer prognosis.
An overdose of medication – If you were given the wrong medication because of a pharmacy prescription error, or too high a dosage of the right medication, this could cause you to suffer symptoms of an overdose. Symptoms could vary depending on the dosage or type of medication but could include dizziness, vomiting, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, falling unconscious.
An allergic reaction – Some people are allergic to certain medicines, and this could cause them to suffer reactions if they take such medications. Allergies would usually be on their medical record and a doctor would usually take care not to prescribe medicines a patient was allergic to. However, if, as the result of pharmacy wrong medication negligence, a patient was given medication they were allergic to, they could suffer symptoms of an allergic reaction. These could range from fairly minor, such as itching, or a rash, to severe anaphylaxis.
Drug interaction symptoms – Some medications should not be taken at the same time, because they interact negatively and cause detrimental effects on patients. If a pharmacy mixing medication makes an error with the ingredients they use or the medicines they dispense, this could negatively affect the health of the patient.
Time Limits To Claim For Wrong Medication Negligence By A Pharmacy
Similar to the personal injury claims time limit, you would usually have three years to make a prescription error claim. However, this 3-year time limit would usually begin from the date that you were aware that you’d suffered avoidable harm due to pharmacy wrong medication negligence, which would not necessarily be the date that you were given the wrong medication.
The table below could be useful in helping you understand how long you could have to make your claim.
Situation | Time Limitation for Claiming |
---|---|
Immediate knowledge that negligence had caused harm. | 3 years from the date of the negligent incident. |
Discovered later that negligence had caused harm. | 3 years from the date of discovery. |
Parent claiming on behalf of a child | Up to the child’s 18th birthday |
Child claiming for negligence once they reach the age of 18 | Up to 21st birthday |
If you are at all unsure as to how long you could have to make a Tesco Pharmacy wrong medication negligence claim, please call our team on 0800 652 3087. We’d be happy to advise you.
What Could You Claim? – Wrong Medication Negligence Calculator
When claiming compensation for your injuries or illness caused by a pharmacy prescription error, you would be able to claim for the suffering, pain and loss of amenity that your injuries caused, as well as costs and losses that have resulted from your injuries. Let us have a look at the compensation payouts for the suffering, pain and loss of amenity first. These are known as general damages and would be calculated from an assessment of your medical condition, and prognosis for recovery. You would have to see an independent medical expert for this evidence to be collected. An expert would review your medical notes and examine you to write a report that could be used to value your medical negligence claim.
Every case is assessed on its own merits, so it would not be possible for us to give you an accurate calculation of your claim before all of the evidence has been collected. A medical negligence calculator, similar in nature to a personal injury claims calculator could give you a rough idea, but it would not be an accurate one. If you want some idea of how much you could claim, what we can do is provide some useful information on guideline payouts for specific injuries that we believe could relate to a prescription negligence claim. The amounts you can see in the table below have been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines. This is a legal publication that is updated annually and gives guidance on compensation settlement amounts.
Injury | Guideline Compensation | Further detail |
---|---|---|
Toxicosis (Severe Cases) | Up to £49,270 | Cases could require hospital admission for some weeks. Pain would be serious and other symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting and fever could also be present. Long-term complications could include IBS and other bowel conditions. This could affect the injured party’s ability to work. |
Short-lived serious poisoning | Up to £18,020 | Injured parties could suffer diarrhoea, vomiting and pain that could last between 2 and 4 weeks. Continuing symptoms could include the loss of enjoyment of foods, issues with sex life and the alteration of the function of the bowel over a few years. |
Poisoning (Less severe than above) | Up to £8,950 | Cases in this bracket could include symptoms such as serious discomfort, fatigue, cramping and other bowel issues. They may be required to be admitted to hospital, although full recovery could occur within 1-2 years. |
Poisoning | £3,710 | Cases in this bracket would include situations where an injured party would have suffered days or even weeks of cramping, diarrhoea and vomiting. |
Injury to kidneys | Up to £60,050 | Cases included in this bracket could include injuries that have led to the loss of the natural function of the kidneys, or that have resulted in significant risk of UTIs. Medical treatment for such cases could be expensive, which is why the bracket is set so high. |
Injury to Bowels | Up to £65,440 | This would include bowel injuries which led to function impairment that affected the injured party’s ability to attend work. It could also affect what they were able to eat. |
If your injury/illness is not included in the table above, please do not hesitate to call our team on 0800 652 3087, as we could provide more information on guideline payout amounts over the phone.
Other Damages You Could Claim
We mentioned above that you could also claim for losses and costs associated with your injuries, and these are usually referred to as special damages. These could include expenses such as:
Care costs – If your injuries have required you to need help with washing/dressing, for example, costs for this kind of care could be included within your claim.
Medical expenses – If you have required physiotherapy or counselling that you have had to pay for, or you’ve needed to pay for prescriptions relating to your injuries, you could claim for these as special damages.
Travel expenses – Have you needed to pay transport costs to attend medical appointments or appointments with your lawyer? These could also be included as part of your claim.
Income losses – When you take time off work to recover from injury or illness you may not receive your full wage. If you’ve lost out on income while recovering from your injuries/illness, these losses could be claimed for. In addition to this, if your injury or illness was so severe that you could no longer work at all, future losses of earnings could also form part of your medical negligence claim.
It is vital that we make you aware of the importance of retaining proof of these costs and losses. This could be in the form of payslips, bank statements or receipts, for example. If you do not have proof of the financial impact that your injuries have had on you, you will not be able to include these costs and losses within your claim.
No Win No Fee Pharmacy Prescription Error Claims
Are you concerned that you would have to pay upfront for legal fees relating to your case if you choose to work with a lawyer? If you work with a No Win No Fee medical negligence lawyer, you would not have to. Instead, you would sign a Conditional Fee Agreement and pay the lawyer out of your total compensation payout once they’d successfully secured compensation for you. You would usually pay a percentage to your medical negligence solicitor as a success fee, and this percentage would be capped at 25%, but could be less in some cases. This means there would be absolutely no legal fees to pay until the end of your case.
If you did not end up with a compensation payout, even if your claim was a valid one, you would not have to pay the success fee to your lawyer.
If you would like to know more about making claims under this kind of payment structure, we’d be delighted to answer your questions.
How The Medical Negligence Assist Team Could Help You
If you’re looking for assistance with your claim, we could help you in a variety of ways. If you call us with questions about your eligibility to claim, or about the claims process, we will be happy to offer you some actionable advice. We could also offer you’re an eligibility check to see if you could be entitled to claim compensation for your injuries. You would not be putting yourself under any obligation to use our services by taking advantage of this assistance.
If you would like us to, and if we believe you could be entitled to claim compensation, we could connect you with one of our panel of lawyers who works on a No Win No Fee basis. This would enable you to begin a claim right away, without having to pay legal fees upfront.
We pride ourselves on our knowledge and experience in helping claimants begin taking legal action for medical negligence, and we have successfully helped many clients in a wide variety of different circumstances claim compensation for their injuries. Why not let us help you too?
Start A Claim Against A Pharmacy
Are you now ready to start a No Win No Fee pharmacy prescription error claim, or would you like to check whether you could be eligible to claim for your injuries? Or, do you have questions about the claims process? Whatever you need, why not get in touch with Medical Negligence Assist for guidance and support. You can call us on 0800 652 3087. Otherwise, you could opt to fill in the contact form and have us contact you, or use our Live Chat service. However you prefer to get in touch, we’re ready to help.
Further Information
NHS Information On Out Of Date Medicine – Here, you can find out more about medication that is out of date.
Improving Reporting Of Medication Errors – Here, you can read a patient safety alert relating to reporting of medication errors.
Pharmacy Inspections Website – Here, you can read inspection reports regarding pharmacies in the UK.
Did You Receive The Wrong Medication Because Of Misdiagnosis – If so, our guide on misdiagnosis could shed some light on making a claim for compensation?
Calculating Medical Negligence Claims – Here, you can read all about calculating medical negligence settlements.
How Long Does It Take To Claim – Information regarding claims and how long they can take can be found here.
Written by Jo.
Edited by Lis.