Should My Mom Sue??

Question

so to make a long story short, my mother, who has been taking the same 12.5 miligram pills for the last 4 years was given the wrong dose of it by a new pharmacist. instead of supplying my mother her regular 12.5 mill, the pharmacist gave her the 25 milligram pills,l which is double what she's supposed to be taking. my mom was taking the medication for two weeks before she found out she was taking the wrong one and she has been experiencing side effects because the pill is a heart medication. so she is thinking of suing the pharmacy. what would you do in this situation.

Answer 1

Honestly? While mistakes definitely should NOT happen with people working in medicine.. If she isn't being hospitalized over it then probably no. Not only will she not get a large sum but lawyers will usually eat up a good chunk of it, plus she hasn't incurred any hospital fees

But if she's having very adverse side-effects and is having to be put into the hospital because of it, then yes.. go for it.

Answer 2

Do you think you should be sued every time you make a mistake?

In order to sue for malpractice you have to prove a mistake was made AND that the mistake caused actual harm. It doesn't sound like you mother was harmed.

Answer 3

It sounds like you are asking whether your mother should sue her pharmacy for the tort of negligence (the most common suit in these cases, and generally the most well known).

In order to sue the pharmacy, your mother would have to show that the pharmacist owed a duty of care to her as the result of their relationship, that the duty was breached when the pharmacist did not exercise the amount of care that a reasonable person would exercise, that there was damage to your mother, and that the damage was caused by the negligence of the pharmacist.  

First, you would have to show a duty between the pharmacist and your mother.  If, for example, the pharmacist was filling the prescription as indicated by the doctor, then there might not have been a duty to your mother to take care of her.  

Next, medical professionals are general held to a lower standard of care than regular people.  As long as some reasonable pharmacist in the area would have prescribed a double dosage, then it is unlikely that you will be able to show a breach of the pharmacist's duty of care.  This is to protect them from being sued by everybody over every slight health problem that might occur.  The law doesn't want patients and their lawyers second-guessing doctors after the fact.  

The third thing is the worst for your chances of a successful suit.  You have to show that your Mother suffered damages, like pain and suffering or increased chance of disease, ill health, etc.  If the side effects you mentioned were a headache or a fever or something transitory like that, it is very unlikely that you will be able to show damages.  Even if you can show damages, unless something very serious happens, the damages will probably be so small that you will not recover enough from the pharmacist to even cover the costs of your lawyer.  

Finally, if your Mom is sick, it may be difficult to show that the side effects she was feeling were caused by the double dosage.  

Even if you believe you can show all of these things, ask yourself if its worth it.  Suing someone rarely results in the "win the lottery" outcome that many people expect from TV and pop culture.  A suit can be a long process, lasting many years, and may result in a verdict against you.  That means you could recover nothing and still be stuck paying your lawyer.  And if you get a verdict against the pharmacy, they could go bankrupt and not pay it, especially if its a small pharmacy.  You probably feel angry that the pharmacist endangered your mother, and you should be angry.  But a suit is the answer only in a tiny fraction of situations, no matter how angry they make you.

Don't rely on this post for legal advice - talk to a lawyer.  This is informational, not meant as legal advice.

Answer 4

Concur with above authors.  First off, obviously human beings make errors.  Sometimes the errors cause catastrophic consequences.  In your mom's case she apparently received the wrong dose of a medication.  Now, you wish to know what I'd do in this situation.  Since it doesn't sound like this human error resulted in significant damages (probably not permanent so far as I can ascertain), you are interested in knowing if I would sue.  Without even considering what would be involved in securing a successful tort claim in this situation, ask yourself what do you wish to accomplish?  If you're looking to gain monetary damages, you'd need to establish that there were significant damages; it doesn't sound like she sustained significant damages.  Pain & suffering, doubtful that you'd be prove that nor do I think you'd stand to recover much from this.  Do you wish to punish the Pharmacy for making a human error?  Perhaps you do, but I sure as h**l don't want to be punished whenever I make an honest mistake.  So really think about what you stand to gain by suing the people who dedicate their lives to taking care of ill and injured people.

If you're skeptical about how much you stand to recover in terms of monetary damages, then by all means consult an attorney.  My advice is let it go, be thankful that mom is okay, and make mom's health a higher priority than litigation; if you know she should be taking 12.5 mg, double check that the filled prescription is for that dose.  If you're not certain about it, speak to the pharmacist about whether the prescription was filled properly.

The more those of us in the health professions get sued frivolously, the less we are inclined to practice in accordance to sound medical principles, and instead begin practicing guided by fear of litigation.  Keep this in mind when you consider who or why you wish to sue someone.