Medication malpractice happens when medical professionals make errors when administering prescription medication, and those errors cause harm to the patient. These medication errors can be a huge danger to patients, as taking the wrong medication even once can lead to serious complications. A medical malpractice case can also lead to serious legal consequences for healthcare providers.
In this article, we'll define medication errors and medical malpractice. We'll also discuss why medication errors happen, how to prevent them, and why malpractice insurance is essential for healthcare providers.
Do you know what the top 5 medical errors committed by physicians today are? Read about them here!
What Is Medication Malpractice?
Medication malpractice is a type of professional negligence. It happens when healthcare providers make mistakes when prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication, and the error leads to patient harm. This is also known as a medication error or pharmaceutical malpractice. Medication malpractice can also be a type of adverse drug event, which is any medication-related negligence that causes harm.
You might be wondering: what is a medication error that qualifies for a malpractice charge? Not every medication error qualifies as medical malpractice; it must be proven that the error was due to negligence rather than an accident. Medication errors are considered medical malpractice if they are caused by the provider’s negligence, rather than a patient’s mistake.
When medication errors occur, it can lead to serious illness or injury. In extreme cases, medication errors are a cause of death. Medication errors also make it more difficult for providers to treat any underlying medical condition the patient has, and can worsen the patient's condition. Expert testimony is often required to establish how a competent healthcare provider would have acted differently in the same situation and whether in fact any medication malpractice caused harm.
Current medication error statistics are sobering: These errors harm at least 1.5 million people every year, making them more common than you might think. These types of medical errors are also costly, as the World Health Organization estimates a global cost of about US$42 billion annually.
Types of Medication Errors
There are several different types of common medication errors that can happen in healthcare settings. Here are some of the most common examples:
- Wrong medication: The provider prescribes or administers the wrong drug for the patient’s condition. This is one of the most common medical errors and often happens when a doctor prescribes the wrong medication, or when busy providers confuse the names of drugs or patients.
- Wrong dosage: The provider prescribes too little or too much medication, leading to adverse side effects or harmful underlying symptoms. It is essential to verify the correct dose, as drug dosages should be tailored to the patient’s weight, age, and medical history.
- Drug interactions: The provider fails to consider how the drug will interact with the patient’s other medications, including both prescriptions and over-the-counter medications. These kinds of interactions can make a medication ineffective, cause an allergic reaction, or even lead to serious injury.
- Misdiagnosis: The provider misdiagnoses the patient’s condition, leading them to prescribe the wrong medication.
- Overmedication: The provider relies entirely on medication to treat the patient, rather than exploring other long-term solutions. While medication can be helpful for managing chronic conditions, they often come with side effects that interfere with the patient’s quality of life.
- Wrong route: In an inpatient setting, a doctor or nurse administers the medication via the wrong route, causing complications. For example, they might administer an oral medication intravenously, or vice versa.
- Non-standard prescription forms: If a doctor uses non-standard abbreviations on a prescription form, the pharmacy may fill it with the wrong medication. This can also happen if a doctor uses illegible handwriting on a paper prescription form.
- Pharmacy errors: The pharmacy fills the prescription incorrectly or fails to include appropriate information on the label.
Errors of commission in medication administration include dispensing the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or an incorrect entry into the computer system.
Why Medication Malpractice Happens
There are many reasons why medication errors happen. Most health care providers aren’t intentionally trying to harm patients, but instead make errors due to fatigue or misunderstanding. Common causes of medication errors include miscommunication, negligence, inadequate training, inadequate supervision, and faulty systems. Here are some of the most common causes of medication errors in healthcare.
- Fatigue and burnout: When health care professionals are stressed and overworked, they’re more likely to make mistakes. Unfortunately, this is a significant problem in many medical institutions, with 43.2% of US physicians reporting burnout in 2024. Burnout often happens when medical institutions are understaffed, as teams have to work longer hours and juggle more responsibilities.
- Lack of standardization: Some healthcare organizations don’t have standard practices for managing medications, and this inconsistency can lead to errors. This is especially dangerous with high-risk drugs like chemotherapy.
- Communication issues: Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and administrators need to communicate clearly when managing patients, whether they’re talking in person, over the phone, or online. Even a small miscommunication can lead to a patient taking the wrong dose or wrong prescription.
- Inadequate training: Busy healthcare professionals don’t always get in-depth training on new drugs. This knowledge gap can easily lead to drug interactions or other adverse events.
- Outdated medical records: If a patient’s electronic health records are empty, outdated, or incorrect, doctors could make prescription errors. Collecting and maintaining all the data, including allergies, medical history, and current medications, is essential to prevent such errors.
- Look-alike drugs: Some drugs have similar names, which can cause confusion among healthcare providers. Double-checking the drug’s name, function, side effects, and interactions helps prevent medication errors.
- Expired drugs: Busy hospitals or pharmacies may fail to remove expired drugs from their inventory on time. At best, expired drugs are ineffective, and at worst, they can degrade and become toxic. Pharmaceutical manufacturers play a key role in ensuring drug safety and supporting proper inventory management to help prevent these issues.
- Patient misidentification: In a large hospital, nurses may fail to check the patient’s identity and accidentally give a drug to the wrong patient.
- Lack of patient monitoring: If a drug is known for severe side effects, providers should monitor the patient after administering medication and make prescription adjustments as needed. Failing to do this could lead to adverse reactions.
The number of patient deaths resulting from drug errors has increased significantly over the years, highlighting a growing concern for patient safety. Additionally, the costs associated with medication-error-related morbidity and mortality are estimated to run $42 billion per year.
The Dangers of Medication Malpractice
Medication errors are a serious threat to patient safety. They also have serious consequences for providers and for medical institutions.
Medication errors are among the most common errors physicians commit, harming approximately 1.5 million people every year in the United States.
Let’s break down the risks associated with medical errors:
- Patient injury: Taking the incorrect drug can cause serious injury to patients. Many of these injuries are cases of preventable harm. For example, severe overdoses often lead to liver or kidney failure.
- Patient death: In extreme cases, taking the wrong medication can lead to death due to interactions, allergies, or drug toxicity.
- Difficulty treating underlying conditions: When a patient experiences an adverse reaction to a medication, it becomes difficult for their doctor to successfully treat any underlying conditions they have, and the patient's condition may get worse due to these errors.
- Mental health consequences: Adverse drug events are very stressful for patients and can have long-term effects on their mental health. These events can negatively impact patient care, as patients may be hesitant to trust healthcare providers in the future, which means they could miss out on essential preventative care.
- Increased costs: Medication errors are costly for both patients and providers. Patients who experience adverse reactions may require hospital stays and ongoing medical care, adding up to hundreds or thousands of dollars in added medical expenses.
- Legal consequences: Prescribing the wrong medication can lead to a costly and time-consuming medical malpractice lawsuit. This can affect both individual providers and the health care systems that employ them.
- Reputational damage: If you’re involved in a medical malpractice claim, it could harm your reputation and make it difficult to attract new patients in the long run.
Medications Commonly Involved in Malpractice Cases
Some drugs are more prone to causing medication errors than others. This often happens when a medication has complex side effects or the potential for dangerous interactions.
Here are some medications that are often prescribed or administered incorrectly:
- Antidepressants: This includes SSRIs and SNRIs like Prozac, Zoloft, and Lexapro. Misdiagnosis or overprescribing can cause dangerous conditions like serotonin syndrome, which occurs when medications or drug-drug interactions raise serotonin levels too high.
- Second-generation antipsychotics: This includes drugs like Risperdal, Seroquel, and Abilify. Sometimes doctors mistakenly diagnose depression as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, leading them to incorrectly prescribe antipsychotics.
- Benzodiazepines: These include Xanax, Ativan, and Valium. Doctors can overprescribe benzodiazepines for short-term anxiety, which can lead to dependence or mask other underlying problems. Misuse or mixing these drugs with other drugs or substances can also lead to overdose.
- Opioids: These include popular painkillers like OxyContin, Percocet, and Morphine. Some doctors prescribe opioids to treat short-term pain without addressing underlying conditions, which can lead to addiction.
- Stimulants: These include ADHD medications like Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse. ADHD is sometimes confused with mood or anxiety disorders, leading doctors to prescribe these medications inappropriately.
- Antibiotics: These include Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin, and Azithromycin. These medications only work on bacterial infections, but are sometimes erroneously prescribed for viral infections. Overprescribing antibiotics can also cause patients to develop drug resistance, making future infections more dangerous.
- Mood stabilizers: These include Lithium, Depakote, and Tegretol. These drugs are sometimes prescribed after misdiagnosing depression or anxiety as bipolar disorder, leading to adverse side effects. An incorrect dosage can also lead to toxic drug levels in the bloodstream.
- Antihypertensive drugs: These include Lisinopril, Amlodipine, and Metoprolol. Prescribing errors with this drug can lead to unstable blood pressure or electrolyte imbalances, which can be very dangerous.
How Medical Malpractice Claims Work
As a provider, you might be wondering: is giving the wrong medication malpractice?
If a patient experiences harm as a result of their provider’s medication errors, they have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Medical malpractice is a type of personal injury claim handled in civil court. If a provider is found liable for medical malpractice that harmed the patient, they may be required to pay damages to the patient as compensation for the harm they experienced. In order for a medication error to lead to a malpractice claim, the case must meet the following criteria:
- Duty of care: The provider had a medical relationship with the patient, which legally required them to meet the established standard of care in the medical industry. Essentially, healthcare professionals are required to take the same actions that other skilled professionals would in similar circumstances. This standard of care is informed by current medical research.
- Breach of duty: The provider failed to meet the established standard of care, either by making a mistake or failing to take action. Patients must establish that the healthcare provider violated the standard of care to prove negligence.
- Causation: The provider’s medication error directly caused harm to the patient. This harm could be physical injury and/or economic loss.
Other types of cases, including birth injury and product liability, may also involve medication errors and be handled similarly through the legal process.
Pursuing a medical malpractice claim can involve a complex legal process, including the need for expert testimony, evidence gathering, and navigating intricate legal procedures. In many cases, medical malpractice claims are settled out of court, with approximately 20-30% ending in settlement agreements.
Is Medication Error Negligence or Malpractice?
Medication errors can be both medical negligence and medical malpractice, depending on the specifics of the case.
Medical malpractice is a type of legal claim that includes both negligence and intentional errors. Medical negligence, including gross negligence, is any instance where a provider fails to meet the standard of medical care due to lack of action.
Medical Malpractice Claims Process
A medical malpractice case for medication error starts when a patient experiences harm and takes action to file a lawsuit with the civil court system. Patients must file the lawsuit within the statute of limitations, which is two years in most states. Both parties will need to hire a medical malpractice attorney, who will collect evidence and interview witnesses and a medical expert to opine on standard of care and causation
The case will go through the discovery process, which involves exchanging evidence and deposing relevant parties, including experts. In some cases, where liability is likely, the two parties will negotiate out of court, either directly or through a process called mediation.
If the parties cannot reach a settlement, the case will proceed to court. A judge and/or jury will evaluate all of the evidence, determine liability and then, if appropriate, decide on any damages. These medical malpractice cases are complex and often take months or even years to resolve.
We wrote an entire blog breaking down the full medical malpractice claims process step-by-step, read it today!
Who is Responsible for Medication Malpractice?
There are multiple parties that could be held liable for malpractice in a medication error case. These include:
- Doctors: Doctors, as healthcare professionals, are responsible for diagnosing conditions and prescribing the right medications. They must also monitor patients for adverse drug effects.
- Nurses: Nurses, another type of healthcare professional, are responsible for administering medication and monitoring patients in inpatient healthcare settings and can be held liable if they make mistakes. For example, many medication errors in assisted living, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers are caused in part by nurses.
- Pharmacists: Pharmacists, as healthcare professionals, are responsible for filling prescriptions accurately. They also must include vital information about side effects and potential drug interactions on the prescription label.
- Healthcare organizations: In some cases, health care systems can be held liable for the actions of their employees.
Legal Implications for Providers
Healthcare providers have a legal obligation to keep patients safe, especially when it comes to managing medication. Failing to do so can have serious, long-lasting legal consequences, including:
- Civil Liability: Patients can file malpractice lawsuits seeking compensation for medical expenses, pain, suffering, and lost wages. In extreme cases, where the defendant committed intentional acts, was grossly negligent or acted with a conscious disregard for the patient, judges may even award punitive damages to the plaintiff. This additional compensation is rare and designed to punish and discourage the defendant from similar behavior in the future.
- Criminal Liability: If a healthcare provider acts with gross negligence or intentional harm, they may face criminal charges. These cases are very rare and happen when providers go beyond mistakes and commit harmful acts intentionally, such as illegally distributing drugs or physically abusing patients.
- Disciplinary Actions: Healthcare providers may face suspension or even lose their medical license, depending on the severity of the medication malpractice.
Many malpractice insurance providers offer a free consultation to help healthcare providers understand their legal risks and options.
How Medical Malpractice Insurance Works
Medication errors can constitute malpractice and can include everything from incorrect prescriptions to excessive dosages. Since these errors are considered medical malpractice, providers that work with prescription drugs need reliable malpractice insurance policies.
These insurance policies cover your expenses if you’re involved in a malpractice lawsuit. This can include cases of medication errors by nurses, doctors, and pharmacists. Your insurance provider can also help you find an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
On top of that, many malpractice insurance providers offer free consultations to help with risk management. For additional guidance on medication safety and error prevention, healthcare professionals can refer to resources and guidelines published by the National Academies Press.
Here are some of the expenses that malpractice insurance covers:
- Legal Defense Costs: If you’re involved in a malpractice suit, insurance covers your legal fees. You can hire a trusted and experienced medical malpractice defense lawyer without any associated financial stress.
- Settlement and Compensation: If you’re found liable for a medication error, insurance will cover the damages up to the policy limit. This includes the patient’s medical bills, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering.
- Lost Income: During legal proceedings, providers might need time off work. Insurance can help replace lost income while they focus on the case.
A robust malpractice insurance policy will give you the peace of mind you need as you provide important medical care for patients. Any healthcare provider can make mistakes, so it’s important to be financially prepared. Malpractice insurance also helps you protect your reputation if you’re falsely accused of medication errors.
How to Prevent Medication Errors & Improve Patient Safety
Health professionals and organizations should be proactive about preventing medication errors. Investing in risk management helps improve patient safety and patient care while protecting providers from costly lawsuits.
Here are key strategies to help prevent medication malpractice before it happens:
- Provide ongoing professional development: Provide regular training sessions for doctors, nurses, and pharmacists on new drugs and safety protocols. Busy healthcare professionals don’t always have time or energy to research on their own.
- Implement safety protocols: Requiring multiple accuracy checks throughout the treatment process is one of the best ways to prevent medication errors in nursing.
- Focus on communication: Encourage doctors, nurses, and pharmacists to be thorough in their communication, ask questions, and report any possible errors as soon as they happen. Transparency is key to preventing misunderstandings.
- Update patient EHR: Update the patient’s medical records after every appointment, ensuring all the data is collected and maintained. This helps prevent drug interactions and allergic reactions in the future.
- Improve work-life balance: This is one of the best evidence-based strategies to reduce medication errors. When providers are well-rested and engaged, they’re much less likely to make mistakes.
- Keep technology updated: Modern barcoding systems help providers avoid medication administration errors. It’s important to keep these systems updated to minimize the risk of cyberattacks and malfunctions.
- Keep patients informed: When prescribing medications, make sure patients are thoroughly informed about appropriate dosages, including the correct dose, timing, and possible side effects. This may require an interpreter for patients that speak different languages.
- Empower patients as the final check: Patients can act as the final check in the medication system by being informed about their medications, including names, correct dosages, and potential interactions.
Real-Life Medication Malpractice Cases
Medication malpractice can cause serious harm to patients and their families, often resulting in preventable harm when healthcare providers fail to properly monitor or adjust treatment. Let’s explore some real-life pharmaceutical malpractice cases that illustrate how serious complications can be.
Case 1: Nurse Fails at Medication Error Reporting
This is one of many notable cases involving medication errors and nurses. Beverly Ann Bratcher, a nurse in Michigan, was charged by the state’s Attorney General in 2022 for failing to report medication errors that caused harm to a vulnerable adult. The nurse had noticed that the patient received two incorrect medication doses but didn’t report the mistake as required by law.
Bratcher was charged with one count of second degree vulnerable adult abuse. She later faced fines, and her nursing license was put on probation.
Case 2: Nurse Convicted of Homicide After Medication Error
One of the most controversial medication error cases is the RaDonda Vaught medication error case. In 2017, Vaught was working as a nurse in Tennessee when she administered the wrong drug to a patient, which ultimately resulted in their death. Vaught was instructed to give the patient a sedative, but instead gave them a paralyzing agent.
Vaught was arrested in 2019 and was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and impaired adult abuse in 2022. This is a rare instance of a nurse being criminally prosecuted for a medication error, rather than being charged in civil court.
The case was very controversial, as Vaught had to override an error in the hospital's software system to access both medications. This override procedure was a common occurrence at the hospital. Some members of the medical community felt that the medical center was partially responsible for the patient's death due to these procedural issues.
Some experts also noted that the case could discourage reporting medication errors in nursing, which would be detrimental to patient safety. However, others felt that Vaught should have caught the error before administering the drug and that the charge was fair.
Case 3: Pharmacy Technician's Error Leads to Child's Death
In 2006, an Ohio pharmacist failed to catch a mistake made by a pharmacy technician mixing chemotherapy drugs. The error led to the death of Emily Jerry, a 2-year-old cancer patient.
The pharmacist, Eric Cropp, was later indicted for reckless homicide and involuntary manslaughter and served six months in prison. The incident also led to the passage of Emily's Law in 2009, which increased the licensing and training requirement for pharmacy technicians in Ohio.
We published a blog that takes an exhaustive look at wrongful death due to medical negligence, read it now!
Understanding Your Risk, Protecting Your Practice
Healthcare providers should take extensive precautions to prevent errors when prescribing medications. Medication errors are extremely dangerous for patients and can lead to serious legal consequences for providers. Understanding the definition of medication error, what causes it, and the potential consequences can help you avoid these unfortunate incidents.
Reliable medical malpractice coverage is a key part of managing your risk. At Indigo, we support healthcare professionals with innovative and cost-effective insurance solutions.
Indigo's AI-powered quoting engine provides tailored, competitive pricing based on your individual practice risk level. Indigo also provides specialized defense in the event of a claim. If you're accused of medication malpractice, we'll connect you with an experienced attorney in your area to handle your case.
Get a quote today to get started with Indigo.
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