Day Lewis Pharmacy Wrong Medication Negligence Claims Guide

Day Lewis pharmacy wrong medication negligence compensation claims guide If you have experienced Day Lewis Pharmacy wrong medication negligence and have been made ill, or had your pre-existing medical condition made worse, as a result, you may be eligible to claim compensation. Whether you were given the wrong medication, given the wrong dosage of medication, or the wrong advice, we could possibly help you make a medical negligence claim.

To begin your Day Lewis Pharmacy medication error compensation claim, call Accident Claims UK today. If you have legitimate grounds to claim, we could provide you with a medical negligence solicitor who could handle your case. Call us today on 0800 073 8801 for your free pharmacy negligence claim consultation to get started. Alternatively, use our online claims form to get in touch with us and start your claims process today.

Choose A Section

A Guide To Claims For Prescription Errors By Day Lewis Pharmacy

The Day Lewis Group is a large, independently run, chain of pharmacies operating in the United Kingdom. The business was founded in 1975 by two brothers Kirit Patel MBE and JC Patel. Today it is still run by the Patel family. Day Lewis Pharmacy owns and operates over 300 pharmacies in the UK and employs 2600 members of staff. The business prides itself on having a family orientated culture and providing patient-centred care.

We have created this guide for people looking to claim compensation because they were made ill, or had their pre-existing medical condition worsened due to medical negligence at a pharmacy. This could be wrong medication negligence, a prescription error, or a patient receiving misleading advice about how to take their medication, amongst other things. In this guide, we will look at how pharmacy errors could happen, how patients could be affected and advise you on how you could be eligible for medical negligence compensation.

Remember, if you have been harmed due to a medication error, you may be entitled to claim compensation. Contact Accident Claims UK for your free consultation and if we can see that you are owed compensation, we could provide you with a medical negligence solicitor, who will start working on your claim as soon as possible.

What Are Pharmacy Errors?

If the pharmacy breaches their duty of care; a pharmacist, or a pharmacy employee, or the management provides a service or level of care which is not up to standard. If a patient, is injured, made ill, or their existing medical condition is worsened because they of were given the wrong medication, given the wrong dosage of medication, or the wrong advice, the pharmacy may be held liable for their injuries. As a result, the injured person may be owed compensation.

A pharmacy error is often related to a prescription error or medication error. This can include a patient receiving the wrong type or wrong dosage of medication, a medicine being found to contain traces of another type of medication, or a pharmacist giving a patient inaccurate advice about how to take their medicine. Unfortunately, the effects of a pharmacy making a prescription error could have a serious effect on a patient. If the pharmacy made a negligent error dispensing a prescription, which led to a patient becoming ill, or their medical condition worsening, they may be eligible for medical negligence compensation.

Pharmacist’s Duty Of Care

Pharmacists and other medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. This means that they are supposed to follow professional best practices to ensure that they provide patients with an adequate standard of care. What’s more, pharmacies are also businesses, so customers, employees and other people who use the building are owed a duty of care when on the premises. Therefore, the pharmacy must ensure that proper standards of health and safety are upheld on the premises, to protect these individuals.

If the pharmacy breaches their duty of care by acting negligently and this causes an accident, they could be held liable for any injuries caused. As a result, the pharmacy may have to pay the injured party compensation.

If the pharmacy made a negligent error dispensing a prescription, which led to a patient becoming ill, or their medical condition worsening, they may be liable for medical negligence compensation, if it can be proven that they owed the patient a duty of care, acted negligently and that caused the patient’s illness or deterioration of their condition.

What Happens If A Pharmacist Made An Error?

According to voluntary reporting by pharmacists, there are 10,000 pharmacy prescription errors a year. This is out of billions of prescriptions that are dispensed each year. Between 2009 and 2015, 7 patient deaths have been linked to pharmacy errors. One example is a 62 year-old woman who went into a hypoglycemic coma then died because her pharmacist gave her diabetes medication, instead of medicine for Crohn’s disease. Another example is an 83 year-old man who died after he was given a blood pressure drug, instead of paracetamol.

There is evidence to suggest that pharmacy medication mistakes may be more frequent than the self-reporting figure shows. A study in the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice looked at 11 UK pharmacies. Their findings showed that the error rate for prescriptions dispensed to be as high as 3%.

A law was introduced in 2018 which protects pharmacists from being prosecuted if they made an honest mistake. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society supported the law and hoped that it would encourage a culture of openness and transparency amongst pharmacists so that pharmacy prescription errors could be addressed and learned from.

Source; https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32832536

Raising Concerns About Mistakes By Your Pharmacy

If you are a member of the public that wishes to complain about a pharmacy service, you can do so by complaining to the pharmacy, to see if the matter can be resolved by both parties. If the pharmacist was dispensing an NHS prescription, you can complain to the NHS commission for your country.

If you complain directly to a pharmacist, they will be obliged to follow the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013. When they deal with your complaint about the wrong medication or pharmacy errors, they must do so in the following manner.

  • The complaint must be dealt with efficiently
  • The complaint must be properly investigated
  • The patient must be treated courteously and with respect
  • The pharmacy must respond to the complaint in a timely manner
  • If necessary, the pharmacy must take action as a response to the complaint
  • The patient must be informed about what the outcome of the complaint was.

Pharmacy Liability For Wrong Medication Mistakes

If you have been made ill or your medical condition has worsened due to a Day Lewis Pharmacy dispensing the wrong medication, will the pharmacy always be at fault? In some instances, your medical negligence solicitor may have to investigate to see if the pharmacy has liability for the wrong medication mistake.

In some instances, a prescription error may happen because your doctor was at fault. For example, the GP misdiagnosed your condition and therefore wrote out a prescription for the wrong medication. In other situations, the doctor may have written a wrong prescription dosage, or made another mistake. In other instances, the doctor may not be at fault and the pharmacist may have acted negligently so the wrong prescription was dispensed, the wrong prescription dosage was dispensed, or another error was made.

Instances Of Pharmacy Negligence

We will now look at some pharmacy prescription errors which you could claim compensation for.

  • A pharmacy wrong medication error. This is when a pharmacist gives a patient medication that is not on their prescription.
  • A wrong prescription dosage error, when the pharmacist gives the patient too high or too low a dosage of medication.
  • Patient mix-ups. This is when a pharmacist mixes up prescriptions for one or more patients, so they receive the wrong medication.
  • Mixing medication error. This is when traces of another drug can be found in a prescription.
  • The pharmacist dispenses medication that is expired or contains expired ingredients.
  • The pharmacist gives prescription instructions which are unclear. For example, some medications are only effective if taken in a specific way. If the pharmacist misinforms the patient on how to take their medicine, it may not have an effect.

You can only make a medical negligence claim if you have been made ill or had your medical condition worsened and you can prove a medical professional owed you, their patient a duty of care in which they negligently breached.

What Effect Could Pharmacy Negligence Have?

Unfortunately, the effects of a pharmacy making a prescription error could have a serious effect on a patient. Taking the wrong medication could have a toxic effect on the body. As a result, a patient could suffer from an anaphylactic shock which could result in a coma. Some medications are toxic if mixed with other medications, for example, blood thinning medication can cause internal bleeding, or make it harder for a cut to heal, if mixed with aspirin. If a patient receives too high a dosage of their medication, this could result in them suffering from liver damage or a cardiac arrest. If the patient receives too small a dosage of their medication, their medication may not have the desired effect, causing their condition to worsen over time.

We recommend that you always check the label on your medication package before you take your medicine. If the medication inside the package looks different from what you expected, consult your doctor before taking it.

Wrong Medication Claims Calculator

If you win your prescription error medical negligence claim, your settlement will be awarded in two parts. You will be awarded general damages which will compensate you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by your illness. You will also be awarded special damages, where you will be reimbursed for any expenses or financial losses you may incur as a result of your illness. You can use our medical negligence claims calculator to estimate how much compensation you may be able to claim in general damages (calculator excludes special damages).

Edit
Injury and Severity Compensation (including the 10% uplift) Notes On This Injury
Level A – Kidney damage £158,970 – £197,480 At this (the highest level) you would be compensated for either severe kidney damage to both kidneys or the loss of both organs.
Level B – Kidney damage Approximate maximum £60,050 Less severe than the above level (a), there is a significant risk of the claimant suffering future kidney illnesses and problems, such as loss of kidney function.
Level C – Kidney damage £28,880 – £42,110 This is the lowest of the three kidney damage injuries presented. It may include the circumstance where a kidney is lost, but the other kidney is still functional.
Level A – Chest injury £94,470 – £140,870 Injuries here are those affecting the internal chest cavity and could include heart damage or damage to other chest organs.
Level (i) – Non traumatic injury £36,060 – £49,270 Non traumatic injuries or illnesses could present in a variety of ways. At Level (i), they may include the symptoms of toxicosis such as fever, diarrhoea, pain and vomiting. The claimant may find that their bowels or sexual function has been affected. The claimant required admission to the hospital.
Level (ii) – Non traumatic injury £8,950 – £18,020 The illness affecting the patient may be shorter lasting, but may still be serious. The claimant may find that their bowels or sexual function has been affected.
Level (iii) – Non traumatic injury £3,710 – £8,950 This is a lower level of non-traumatic injury or non-traumatic illnesses. It may cause a level of discomfort and the claimant may have required admission to the hospital.
Level (iv) – Non traumatic injury £860 – £3,710 This is the lowest level of non-traumatic injuries and such injuries are both less serious and shorter lasting.

Of course every claim is different, so your compensation package will reflect your personal circumstances. Call Accident Claims UK to speak to one of our advisors about your claim and we can estimate how much compensation you may be entitled to.

Other Types Of Damages Which You Could Claim

Here are some examples of what expenses and financial losses you could claim for as special damages:

  • Medical expenses: Prescription costs.
  • Travel expenses: This can include the cost of travelling to the hospital or doctors appointments and paying for hospital parking.
  • Mobility equipment or home adaptation expenses: If you suffered an extreme illness which caused you to become disabled, you can claim back the cost of purchasing mobility equipment or adapting your home.
  • Loss of income: If you were temporarily or permanently left unable to work, due to injury, you can claim for missed salary payments, and missed in-work benefits.

How Could I Be Helped By Accident Claims UK?

If you have been made ill or had your medical condition worsened because of Day Lewis wrong medication negligence, trust us to handle your prescription negligence claim.

Why Choose Accident Claims UK To Handle Your Medication Error Claim?

  • Free in-depth telephone call with a trusted claims advisor.
  • A solicitor with years of experience to handle your medical negligence claim.
  • The option to make a no win no fee claim.
  • A promise that we will fight to win you the maximum amount of money you are owed.

To begin your compensation claim, call us today or use our online claims form to contact us.

No Win No Fee Pharmacy Medical Negligence Claims

If you have been injured, made ill or had your pre-existing condition made worse because of negligence on the part of a pharmacy, our panel of solicitors can offer you the option to make a no win no fee claim. This means that instead of paying your solicitor’s fee up front, you will enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with your solicitor. This means that you will only be required to pay your solicitor’s fee if and when you win your claim. If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay your solicitor’s fee, so the solicitor is taking on most of the financial risk, not you.

To learn more about making a no win no fee compensation claim, call Accident Claims UK to speak to one of our advisors.

Contact Accident Claims UK

If you believe you are owed compensation for a prescription error, contact Accident Claims UK to begin your claim. We will speak to you in depth and if we can see that you are eligible for medical negligence compensation, we will provide you with a solicitor, who will start working on your claim as soon as possible. Call us on 0800 073 8801 now or use our online claims form.

Pharmacy Error References

Learn more about pharmacy errors using these external resources.

A General Pharmaceutical Council Guide To Raising Concerns About Pharmacy Negligence – Learn how to raise your concerns.

The Health Foundation’s Guide To Reducing Prescription Errors – How prescription errors could be reduced.

Accident Claims UK Guides That May Be Of Interest To You

Here are some more of our guides you may find useful:

Article by HC

Edited by MM.