If you’re wondering, ‘What could you claim for medication errors in healthcare?’ our guide will help. We start by discussing how medical negligence compensation can address the physical and mental pain and suffering as well as any financial loss you have experienced due to a negligent medication error.
We cover the eligibility criteria for medical negligence claims and the time limits for taking legal action. Furthermore, we look at the ways that substandard care leading to a medication error, such as the wrong drug or wrong dosage being given, could cause otherwise avoidable harm.
If you’re eligible to proceed with your claim, you may be interested in working with a specialist medical negligence solicitor. Our guide concludes by explaining how they could help you on a No Win No Fee basis.
Get in touch with us for a free consultation and see if you have a valid claim through our case evaluation service. We’re available around the clock and can be reached through any of these ways:
- Call us at 0800 652 3087.
- Ask about your potential claim online so we can contact you.
- Talk to an advisor through the live chat tab below.
Select A Section
- What Could You Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
- Can You Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
- Medical Negligence Claim Limitation Periods
- How Medication Errors Could Impact You
- Start Your Medical Negligence Claim
- Further Guidance On Claims For Medication Errors In Healthcare
What Could You Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
Successful medication error compensation claims will result in you receiving a payout. Depending on how medical negligence has affected them, what is awarded will differ. However, a settlement could be formed of up to two heads of claim.
General damages are the first head of claim which will form part of a payout. This head accounts for physical and/or mental harm resulting from medical negligence.
Those responsible for working out general damages can refer to medical evidence as well as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), a set of guideline compensation brackets for different types of harm.
Compensation Table
This table shows entries from the JCG, except for the top line. This table should only be considered a guide and may not reflect how much compensation you would receive for your own medication error claim.
| INJURY | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION GUIDELINES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Serious Injuries or Illnesses Plus Special Damages | Very Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ | Compensation addressing the pain and suffering of medical negligence as well as the financial losses incurred as a result, such as lost income, care costs and medical costs. |
| Brain | Very Severe | £282,010 to £403,990 | There will be little or no language function or evidence of the person having a meaningful response to their environment. They will need full-time nursing care. |
| Kidney | Loss or Serious and Permanent Damage | £169,400 to £210,400 | Both kidneys are affected. |
| Bladder | Cases Involving Double Incontinence | Up to £184,200 | Complete loss of urinary function and control, plus lost natural bowel function and further medical complications. |
| Bowels | Total Loss of Natural Function | Up to £150,110 | Loss of function may be joined by a reliance on colostomy, depending on the patient's age. |
| Digestive System | Illness/Damage Resulting from Non-Traumatic Injury (i) | £38,430 to £52,500 | Severe toxicosis resulting in serious acute pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever. The person may be in hospital for some days or weeks. |
| Spleen | Loss of Spleen | £20,800 to £26,290 | There is an ongoing risk of internal infection and disorders because the immune system is damaged. |
Special Damages
In some cases, general damages will not be the only head of claim. If the negligent medication error impacted you financially, compensation could also be awarded to address monetary losses you have incurred. This is awarded under the head of claim known as special damages. You could seek compensation for costs such as:
- Loss of earnings and bonuses you missed out on.
- Medical expenses, such as prescription costs.
- Domestic care fees.
- Travel costs.
If you plan to seek special damages compensation, be sure to keep hold of any documents that show your losses, like payslips or bank statements.
If you would like to know more about medication error compensation, please give us a call. We can provide a free valuation of your case to help you understand what you could claim for medication errors in healthcare.
Can You Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
Medication errors are incidents where there has been an error during prescribing, preparing, dispensing, administering, monitoring, or providing advice on medicines.
Numerous medical professionals or healthcare professionals could be involved in these processes. For example, medicine could be prescribed by a GP or doctor, dispensed by a pharmacist or administered by a hospital nurse.
These professionals must uphold the duty they owe the people under their care. This means they must provide the correct standard of care and maintain professional standards. A failure to do so could lead to medication errors that could potentially have life-threatening health consequences.
If you have suffered unnecessary harm because negligent care from a medical professional or healthcare professional caused a medication error, you may wonder whether you have grounds to claim compensation.
In order for a medical negligence case to be valid, it must satisfy the following criteria:
- A medical or healthcare professional owed you a duty of care.
- They failed to provide the correct standard of care, therefore breaching this duty.
- As a result, you suffered avoidable harm.
Call the number above to discuss your case and have your potential claim assessed. We can answer your questions and also explain how one of our expert clinical negligence solicitors can help you through the different stages of the claims process.
Medical Negligence Claim Limitation Periods
There is a legal time limit for starting a medical negligence claim. The Limitation Act 1980 sets out a three-year limitation period for submitting a claim, starting either from the date the medical negligence occurred or the date of knowledge. The latter refers to when the link between the breached duty of care and your avoidable harm becomes known.
The limitation period could differ in certain scenarios. For one, under-18s cannot make medication error claims for themselves, so they would have from their 18th birthday to their 21st to start legal proceedings. Alternatively, a claim can be started for them before they turn 18 if a trusted litigation friend is appointed to represent them.
If someone lacks the mental capacity to claim, their time limit is paused indefinitely. A litigation friend can take legal action on their behalf. If they don’t and the person recovers their mental capacity, they will have three years from their recovery date to submit their claim.
Give us a call about your potential medication error claim today and we can help you establish how long you have to seek compensation.
How Medication Errors Could Impact You
When looking at the question, ‘What could you claim for medication errors in healthcare?’, this depends largely on how much you are affected.
The examples below highlight how a medical professional providing substandard care could lead to different types of medication errors and the impact this could have.
- A care home nurse gives a resident the wrong dose. This leads to an accidental overdose and the patient suffers kidney damage.
- A doctor in a hospital does not check a patient’s notes so a drug is prescribed that contains an ingredient the patient is allergic to. As a result, they experience a severe allergic reaction to the medication which causes them to go into anaphylaxis resulting in brain damage.
- When preparing a prescription, a pharmacy mixes up the labels resulting in them giving another person’s medicine to the wrong patient. The drugs react with the prescription medicine the patient already takes and harms their internal organs.
- A doctor miscalculates the required amount of medicine needed for a patient suffering from heart problems, leading to them receiving the wrong dosage. The drug has no effect as the dose is much too low and the patient suffers a heart attack, leaving lasting damage.
If you have been impacted after receiving the wrong prescription, wrong medication, wrong dosage or another type of medication error, such as one related to a medical misdiagnosis, please call our team. We can help you understand whether you’re eligible to start a claim and seek compensation.
Start Your Medical Negligence Claim
Are you looking to instruct a solicitor to help you seek medication error compensation? If you have valid grounds to sue a public or private healthcare provider, one of our medical negligence solicitors could assist you. When you work with one of our solicitors, you will have:
- Access to free legal advice.
- Guidance throughout the claims process.
- Support in gathering and presenting evidence such as medical records and witness statements.
- Help negotiating a fair settlement that addresses all the impacts of medical negligence, including pain and suffering and financial losses, such as hospital bills and other medical expenses.
Additionally, their work is offered under a Conditional Fee Agreement, a type of No Win No Fee deal that rules out any payment for their services before or during the claim. If the case loses, there is no fee to pay the solicitor for their services.
If you win your case, a deduction will be made from your compensation as the solicitor’s success fee. This is taken as a percentage. However, The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 places a cap on the percentage a solicitor can take.
Find Out What You Could Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare
If you have any questions about No Win No Fee medication error claims, just give us a call. Discuss claiming for medical negligence with our team of advisors and you can find out whether you have a valid case. You could even be connected to one of our solicitors. However, there is no obligation to proceed with our services and we can simply answer any questions about medical negligence claims.
To find out more, you can:
- Call 0800 652 3087.
- Write to us about your claim online and request a call back.
- Open the live chat box and send us a message.
Further Guidance On Claims For Medication Errors In Healthcare
You can also get some useful information about medical negligence claims through these guides:
- Our guide to deaths from medication errors and who can claim on behalf of a loved one.
- Information on how to report medication errors to the relevant authorities.
- A guide looking at pharmacy wrong prescription claims and how to seek compensation for pharmacy negligence.
These resources also provide relevant information:
- The NHS Resolution’s publication on paediatric medication errors also shows how claims have come about in the past.
- NHS guidance on when to call 999 for emergency medical help.
- A government overview on claiming Statutory Sick Pay from your work.
Thank you for reading our guide discussing the question, ‘What could you claim for medication errors in healthcare?’. Please call at a time that’s convenient for you if you require any further information.