In this guide, you will find out how to make a compensation claim for medication errors in healthcare. Firstly, we explain what a medical professional’s duty of care is and what criteria must be met in order to be eligible to begin making a medical negligence claim.
Then, we look at examples of types of medication and prescription errors in healthcare and ways in which healthcare professionals can be negligent. Furthermore, we look at how to prove medical negligence happened to you and how you have suffered from being given the incorrect medication.
As you move through this guide, you can find a guideline compensation table and an explanation of how compensation for successful medical negligence claims is calculated.
Our specialist medical negligence solicitors can offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. They can also help with making the prescription error claim process a lot easier for you. To see whether you can talk to one of our solicitors, please have a chat with our team. They are available 24/7 via the following methods:
- Call 0800 073 8804.
- Enquire about your potential claim online by entering your details on our form.
- Message in our live support chat box.
Choose A Section
- Who Could Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
- Causes Of Medication Errors In Healthcare
- What Proof Could Help You Claim For A Medication Error?
- What Could You Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
- No Win No Fee Claims For Negligent Medication Errors
- Discover More About How To Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare
Who Could Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
A prescription or medication error compensation claim could be made if there is proof that medical negligence occurred. Medical negligence happens when a medical professional or health care provider causes a patient under their care to suffer avoidable harm (harm that should have been prevented) due to them breaching their duty of care.
Every medical professional or healthcare provider must always deliver the correct standard of care to every patient that they treat. This is known as their duty of care. If a medical professional ever delivers a standard of care that falls below the minimum standards that are expected of them, then this is a breached duty of care.
Thus, here are the eligibility criteria you must prove to make a medical negligence claim for a medication error:
- You were owed a duty of care.
- A medical professional or healthcare provider such as a pharmacy breached their duty of care.
- Because of this breach, you suffered avoidable harm.
Speak with our team to discuss your medication error claim eligibility and confirm whether one of our specialist solicitors can represent you.
How Long Do You Have To Claim For A Medication Error?
The Limitation Act 1980 states that you generally have 3 years to begin making a prescription error claim. These 3 years commence from the date medical negligence occurred or the date of awareness that medical negligence occurred.
The only exceptions to this time limit are if the claimant does not have the mental capacity to claim or if they are under the age of 18. For these cases, the time limit is suspended.
While the time limit is paused, medication error compensation claims can be pursued by a litigation friend (if one is appointed). However, if the claimant regains their mental capacity or turns 18 and a claim has not been pursued for them by a litigation friend, then the 3-year time limit will commence.
To learn more about the limitation period for making a claim for medication errors in healthcare, contact us. We will answer your queries.
Causes Of Medication Errors In Healthcare
Here are just a few examples of some effects and causes of medication errors in healthcare due to a healthcare professional breaching their duty of care:
- Wrong dosage. A healthcare professional in a nursing home could administer too much medication because they accidentally read the patient’s notes wrong. Therefore causing an accidental overdose from the wrong dosage.
- Wrong medication. Your GP fails to put your allergies on your medical record. So, although you have already disclosed your allergy to penicillin, they prescribe you amoxicillin. The allergic reaction to the medication leads to anaphylaxis.
- Misdiagnosis. Despite you having symptoms for one condition, you are diagnosed with another condition as you are not referred for further testing. You, therefore, experience a delay in the correct treatment, making your condition worse.
- Prescription errors. Due to an error in the pharmacy, your medication is mislabelled as another patient’s. You thus receive the prescribed medication meant for someone else.
A medication error can happen in a variety of settings. For example, due to dental negligence, care home negligence, hospital negligence, or walk-in centre negligence. Also, not all medication errors will be the result of negligent actions. To have an eligible medical negligence claim following a medication error, it must be proven that the error happened because of a breached duty of care and that this led to you suffering avoidable harm.
So, you can talk about your specific circumstance with our team to see whether you are able to begin a healthcare negligence claim.
What Proof Could Help You Claim For A Medication Error?
When making a medical negligence claim for medication errors in healthcare, evidence is important to show that the duty of care was breached and what avoidable harm you are suffering as a result:
- Copies of your medical reports, like scan images. This can show what symptoms you are suffering and the treatments you need.
- Writing in a diary can also show what symptoms you are suffering and what treatments you need.
- Photographs of any visible effects of the avoidable harm.
- Gather witness details if anyone was present with you whilst receiving an inadequate standard of care.
- Officially complain against the healthcare professional who breached their duty of care to you.
Collecting all the evidence you may need for your case can seem daunting. Our solicitors can help with this. If one of our solicitors represents you, they can collect your evidence as part of their work for you.
What Could You Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare?
If you have a successful claim for medication errors in healthcare, your compensation could be made up of up to two different types of loss.
General damages is the head of loss that compensates you for the physical and psychological effects of the medical negligence you have suffered. Such factors are considered while general damages are being valued:
- If your quality of life is affected.
- How painful your avoidable harm is.
- The length of your expected recovery time.
Also, to help with the valuation of general damages, an independent medical assessment may take place during the medication error claims process. Your medical records, and the medical reports derived from this assessment, can be compared to the guidelines in the Judicial College (JCG). The JCG is a document containing guideline compensation values for different physical and psychological illnesses and injuries.
Guideline Injuries Table
For your guidance, we have provided a guideline compensation table with figures and injuries taken from the JCG. These injuries are just some examples of the avoidable harm that may be suffered from a medication error. However, none of these figures can be guaranteed.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline compensation figures | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple types of very serious harm and/or illnesses and special damages | Very Serious | Up to £500,000+ | An award for the effects of more than one type of serious harm and/or illness, including financial effects like loss of earnings. |
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | £282,010 to £403,990 | The person will require nursing care full time since there may be only some ability to follow basic commands. Their language function and responses to their environment will also be very little, if that. |
| Moderately severe (b) | £219,070 to £282,010 | The person will require constant care of some sort since they will be seriously disabled. Disabilities will be physical, like limb paralysis, or cognitive, like a marked impairment of intellect. | |
| Kidney | Loss or serious and permanent damage (a) | £169,400 to £210,400 | Of both kidneys. |
| Significant future risk (b) | Up to £63,980 | Of a urinary tract infection or other complete loss of the kidney's natural function. Cases such as these will carry future substantial medical costs. | |
| Loss of one kidney (c) | £30,770 to £44,880 | The remaining kidney will have no damage. | |
| Bowel | Double incontinence (a) | Up to £184,200 | Along with other medical complication, the person will have total loss of natural bowel function and of urinary control and function. |
| Complete loss of natural function (b) | Up to £150,110 | The person will depend on a colostomy. | |
| Digestive System | Illness (b) | £38,430 to £52,500 | Severe toxicosis causing serious acute pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever, requiring hospital admission. |
The top figure is not from the JCG.
Special Damages
Special damages is the head of loss that compensates you for the financial effects of the medical negligence you have suffered. Such financial losses that medical negligence could cause you to suffer include:
- Medication costs.
- Loss of earnings if you have missed work.
- Travel expenses, like the cost of making your way to and from the hospital for appointments.
Whilst general damages are always awarded in successful medication error claims, special damages are not. For this reason, it is important to keep hold of any payslips, invoices, and receipts as evidence.
Contact our team for more information on how much compensation could be awarded for medication error claims.
No Win No Fee Claims For Negligent Medication Errors
You can be put in contact with a No Win No Fee solicitor of ours if you have a valid medical negligence claim. Whilst there are no obligations to have a legal expert represent your case for you, it is extremely beneficial to have your case represented by a solicitor as they have the knowledge and experience needed to ensure a case is filed correctly and in full, as you cannot go back and make the same claim again if you managed to miss something out.
All our solicitors work under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). CFAs are the type of No Win No Fee agreement that our solicitors offer.
CFAs are hugely beneficial since fees for your solicitor’s work do not need to be paid up front, throughout the case, or if you are unsuccessful with your case.
If a No Win No Fee medication error compensation claim is successful, a success fee is deducted from the compensation instead. Success fees are a percentage of the compensation, legally capped to ensure you fairly get the majority of your award.
If you have been given the wrong drug or wrong medicine and this has led to you suffering harm, find out now if you could make a compensation claim.
Speaking To Our Team About Your Claim
Our medical negligence No Win No Fee solicitors can take on your case if you are eligible to claim compensation. They have years of experience and can offer you the support you need. To see whether your medical negligence claim is eligible, contact us via:
- Call 0800 073 8804.
- Enquire about your potential claim online by entering your details on our form.
- Message in our live support chat box about No Win No Fee medication error claims
Discover More About How To Claim For Medication Errors In Healthcare
See our related guides on this site:
- How to claim compensation for dispensing errors in healthcare.
- How to make a GP negligence claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
- Find out how to make a complaint after a wrong medication error and claim compensation.
Additionally, browse these external resources which you may find helpful:
- Royal College of Nursing (RCN) – an overview of a nurse’s duty of care.
- General Pharmaceutical Council – read the expected standards of pharmaceutical professionals and pharmacies.
- General Medical Council (GMC) – read the expected professional standards of doctors.
Thanks for reading this guide today about how to make a claim for medication errors in healthcare. Our services are available 24/7.
