A Prescription for Injury: Pharmaceutical Error Lawsuits
The lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton fight diligently for the people of Provo, offering expert legal advice and counsel. Their years of combined experience is particularly important for medical malpractice lawsuits involving drugs and medication. When prescribing or administering any sort of medication, doctors need to be especially mindful of their actions. A mistake with regard to drugs or medicine can be fatal, and there are many types of errors that can be made. Failure to Note Patient Allergies and Medical Conditions Before prescribing a drug to a patient, doctors need to consider if the drug will trigger an allergic reaction in a patient, or if the drug will exacerbate an existing medical condition. When a doctor does not note a patient’s medical history and the possible effects of a drug, contraindications like these can be very dangerous, even deadly. Failure to Account for Negative Effects with Other Drugs Many people take multiple medications to address health issues. Certain drugs should never be mixed together as they can cause major health problems. In addition to noting health issues and allergies, contraindications involving combinations of drugs have to be noted. Failure to Provide Proper Instructions for Use When prescribing a drug, doctors should give patients instructions for proper use. Simply noting the amount of times to take pills and the right dosage is important. Doctors can also note side effects that are of interest to patients, particularly if those may involve drowsiness or fatigue. Failure to provide basic instructions about drugs can prove very harmful. Failure to Account for Addictive Properties of a Drug There have been many stories in the news about the abuse of painkillers, opioids, and other kinds of medications. Sometimes this addition leads to dependence on harder drugs, such as heroin. Before prescribing any drug, doctors have to account for the addictive properties of a medication. A drug that may be less addictive may be better for a patient, particularly if the patient has a history of drug addiction or abuse. Nursing Errors and Medications in Hospitals Nurses often administer pills and change IVs in hospitals. A number of mistakes can occur in these cases. The nurse may switch patient medications, which can have major consequences. In other cases, the nurse may administer the wrong drug or the right drug in an improper dosage. Errors Made by Pharmacists Pharmacists have to be held accountable for errors as well. If they file the wrong prescription, provide patients with the wrong medication, or make any mistakes with regard to filling prescriptions and providing the proper drugs, this can lead to serious injury. Issues with the Prescription Drugs Themselves Though not the fault of the doctor, we can potentially take the pharmaceutical company to task for releasing a dangerous and untested/poorly tested drug. It’s unconscionable to put so many people at risk, especially when they are simply trying to get well and lead healthier lives. Corporations must be held accountable for their unjust actions. Speak with the Attorneys of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton If you would like more information about your legal options following mistakes in prescriptions and injuries related to medication, be sure to contact our injury accident law firm today. The lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton are here to help you in your time of legal need.
Matters of Life and Death: Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis
Here at Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton, we take great pride in helping the people of Provo seek justice against negligent individuals and entities. This is especially helpful when dealing with negligent doctors. Medical malpractice lawsuits hold negligent doctors accountable for their actions, which is important given that errors by doctors and surgeons put the lives of patients at risk. What We Expect from Our Doctors When we go to the doctor with a serious medical concern, we expect a certain degree of competence and care. This means being able to identify serious illnesses if we exhibit all of the obvious signs and symptoms of a condition, and to administer the proper treatments to address these health issues. Sadly, this is not always the case. Medical mistakes are estimated to be the third-highest cause of death in the United States. One example of these deadly medical mistakes is delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Defining Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis Both misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis are mistakes made by doctors when it comes to determining a patient’s medical problem. A misdiagnosis may refer to diagnosis of the wrong kind of condition or missing a health condition completely. For example, a doctor may diagnose an infection when it’s actually viral; or the doctor may not identify an infection at all. A delayed diagnosis refers to catching a medical problem, though said medical problems should have been diagnosed during an earlier visit. For example, a doctor may diagnose a patient’s oral cancer months after a previous visit when the patient was complaining of sores and dental pain that were signs of a serious problem. Both of these medical mistakes are inexcusable, and they can have dire consequences. The Consequences of a Misdiagnosis When a doctor misdiagnoses a condition, there are many issues that may arise. In the case of diagnosing the wrong type of infection as noted in the above example, a patient may be given antibiotics rather than antiviral medication, the former being ineffective given the medical problem the patient is facing. This means the patient’s health will get worse when the doctor should have helped cure the patient of the viral infection. The Consequences of a Delayed Diagnosis When a doctor does not diagnose a condition in a timely manner, this could literally mean the difference between life and death. So many medical problems are easier to treat the sooner they are identified. In the case of the above cancer diagnosis, the hypothetical patient would have had an easier road ahead had the cancer been detected sooner and treated aggressively. Instead, the patient may have a much more difficult fight against cancer, or perhaps the prognosis once the cancer is identified is very grim since it’s too late to do anything. How Medical Malpractice Attorneys Can Help During a medical malpractice lawsuit, your attorney will fight diligently for you and your loved ones, seeking compensation for additional medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. If you lost a loved one due to issues with diagnosis, our team will fight diligently to ensure future tragic losses do not affect others in the future. Speak with the Attorneys of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton If you would like more information about your legal rights following a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, be sure to contact our injury accident law firm today. The lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton will help you seek justice against negligent medical professionals.
Filing Third-Party Work Injury Lawsuits: What Workers Should Know
The legal team at Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton has helped countless injury victims in and around Provo in their time of legal need. An injury attorney can help you with your lawsuit, explaining all of your options in full detail so you can make well-informed choices about your legal options. When it comes to workplace injuries, many people don’t realize that they can seek a lawsuit against a third party that caused an accident. These are known as third-party work injuries, which we’d like to go over right now. About Third-Party Work Injuries Third-party work injuries essentially refer to injuries sustained at a worksite that are the result of another party’s negligence. This means a group or individual outside of your employer or construction company. Examples of Third-Party Work Injuries Say that you are working on a building addition to a completed and operating business. During this job, you slip on a floor that is wet and suffer a serious fracture to your ankle. If another company was in charge of keeping the floor dry and free of debris, they may be a liable third party in your case. Another example to consider involves defective power tools. While using an electrical drill, it may fail or malfunction in such a way that it causes serious injury to the worker using it. The company who manufactured that drill may be liable for the injury sustained. Finally, say you are driving a bulldozer down the s short stretch of road to a worksite, with fellow workers assisting with this necessary roadwork. If a civilian commuter disregards the warning signs about the roadwork and collides with the bulldozer, that negligent driver may be liable for injuries sustained by the driver and other members of the work crew. As you can see, there are many different ways that third parties can affect people simply doing their job. Can You Seek Workers’ Compensation as Well as a Third-Party Lawsuit? Yes. You will be able to seek workers’ compensation as well as file a legal claim against a third party. While you’re generally unable to file a suit against your employer, the third-party is not subject to the same legal protections with regard to work injuries. Why Seek a Third-Party Injury Lawsuit? While workers’ compensation will help cover lost wages and medical bills, they will not cover the physical/emotional pain and suffering associated with the injury. By filing a lawsuit against the third party, you can receive more compensation to cover additional expenses, losses, and challenges you have faced as a result of the injury. How Our Work Injury Attorneys Can Help You Work injuries can pose a number of challenges, ones that only skilled attorneys will be able to address properly. By working with a work injury attorney, you will receive ample information about all of your legal options. We can help you with the complexities of the legal process, freeing up your time to focus on recovery and the road ahead. Speak to the Attorneys of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton To learn more about third-party work injuries and your legal options, be sure to contact our team of personal injury attorneys today. The legal team at Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton are here to help you make smart decisions with regard to legal matters.