Can the pharmacy be sued for malpractice?

[berwin]

The pharmacy gave an individual the wrong medication. The individual was given ear infection medication but should have had eye infection medication. As a result the individual had to go to the hospital for a swollen eye. Does this person have a valid case to sue?

[sebastiano]

Not for malpractice, the pharmacist did not prescribe the medication. This would be negligence. You should take the bills to the pharmacy and ask them for compensation; since this is their fault, they may simply agree to make the payment and a lawsuit not be necessary.

Negligence is 50/50 - you are supposed to check your prescriptions when you get them from the pharmacy. If the packaging and warnings states it is for use in the eye, you have a stronger case than if the packaging and warnings states it is only for use in the ear, and they used it in their eye anyway.

[vipponah]

You may have a valid case, but do you have the tens or hundreds of thousands of $$$s for a lawyer?

It's pretty hard to get any sort of judgment in your favour unless you can show that you actually lost (present or future) money as a result. Did you lose wages, for example? You might get medical costs, but what's it going to cost you to get them?

[seme22]

for negligence if they new they could have prevented something and didn't,and your injury is a result of that.

for malpractice if they did something that lead to your injury, and that something is not something that someone else in their area, practicing in the same field would have done.

For example, they give some medicine to a patient that is not prescribed because they think it would be better then what the doctor prescribed, well if you get sick or hurt it would be their fault, because they just did something that wasn't reasonable for someone else of the same position and practicing in the same area to do.

anyone can be sued, unless your in the military and it was a military pharmacy,,,then the worst that would happen is a write up probably..i dont know military law..

If they can prove they were given the wrong medication, and their condition got worse because of it ,,,then definitely you have a solid case. no doubt about it.

[burdett]

Absolutely. Pharmacists are licensed health-care professionals who are held to a high standard of care. If they fail to use at least the level of care for the type of dispensing involved in your injuries, they can be sued for "pharmacy malpractice" as well as ordinary negligence, among other things. A plaintiff's injury attorney may take such a case "on contingency" basis, meaning that you do not pay attorney fees unless you are successful in your lawsuit. You may also pursue administrative review of their license to continue practicing, meaning the licensing board may require the pharmacist to attend a hearing and show why he or she should retain a license.