Pharmacy Mistakes

You should contact the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy and file a complaint.  We have filed a complaint in every one of our Pharmacy Error cases, which has proven to be very helpful in the investigation.  The Board of Pharmacy has the power to conduct a thorough investigation.

It is any preventable event than may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication in the control of the healthcare professional or consumer.

Any response that is unintended or undesired which occurs at doses normally used in humans.  Adverse drug reactions are expected and are inherent in pharmacology and not always preventable.  But medication errors are preventable.

These are the most common errors:

• Dispensing an incorrect medication
• Dispensing the wrong strength or dosage
• Failing to identify drug interactions or contraindications

Each year, in the United States alone, 7,000 to 9,000 people die as a result of a medication error.  Additionally, hundreds or thousands of other patients experience but often do not report an adverse reaction or medication complication.  The cost of looking after patients with medication-associated errors exceeds $40 billion annually.

Medication errors usually occur at one of these points:

• ordering
• prescribing
• documenting
• transcribing
• dispensing
• administering
• monitoring

You or your loved one may be entitled to recover their medical bills for the ambulance, hospitalization, and doctor’s visit.  As well as the cost to correct the injury that you sustained from the medication error if it will take time to correct.  You are also entitled to pain and suffering.  In extreme cases, punitive damages are available if we can prove the pharmacy was “reckless.”