A Guide To Pharmacist Negligence Claims
A pharmacy error could cause you to experience significant harm. If the harm was avoidable, you could be eligible to start a pharmacist negligence claim if you received the incorrect medication or dosage of medication at a pharmacy. Our guide details the criteria you will need to meet in order to claim, as well as provides some examples of the types of medication errors that could occur in a pharmacy.
You will see information on how you can prove a pharmacist acted negligently when dispensing your medication. We have also provided an overview of how compensation is calculated in healthcare negligence claims under the two different heads of loss.
Furthermore, we examine the type of No Win No Fee agreement offered by our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors and how you can benefit when starting a potential claim with them under such a contract.
To find out about how you could start a pharmacy negligence claim or to get your free consultation regarding your eligibility to sue for having received the wrong medication, reach out to our advisors today. Our friendly and dedicated team are available 24 hours a day via the contact information provided here:
- Call the team at 020 3870 4868.
- Begin your claim online by completing this form.
- Click the live chat button at the bottom of the screen to get a quick response to your queries.
Select A Section
- When Could You Make A Pharmacist Negligence Claim?
- Examples Of Pharmacy Negligence
- How To Prove Pharmacy Negligence Claims
- Examples Of Pharmacist Negligence Claim Payouts
- What Are No Win No Fee Pharmacist Negligence Claims?
- Further Guidance On Claiming For Medication Negligence
When Could You Make A Pharmacist Negligence Claim?
Pharmacists are trained medical professionals responsible for dispensing prescribed medicines, as well as providing a range of over the counter medicines.
Pharmacists have a duty of care to provide the correct standard of care to a patient; a failure to do this could result in patients experiencing avoidable harm through a medication error, such as being given the wrong medication or the wrong dosage. This could constitute medical negligence.
The eligibility criteria to begin a medical negligence claim against a pharmacist are as follows:
- A pharmacist owed you a duty of care.
- They failed to uphold this duty.
- This caused you to experience avoidable harm.
Avoidable harm refers to the harm you have sustained that would not have occurred had the correct standard of care been provided.
To find out if you are eligible to begin a claim for harm caused by a pharmacist’s negligent errors, contact our advisors today for a free assessment of your particular circumstances.
What Are The Time Limits In Medical Negligence Claims?
A claim for medical negligence is generally subject to a limitation period of 3 years from the date the negligence took place, as per the Limitation Act 1980. This period may also be counted from the date of knowledge, the date you would have been expected to realise the harm you experienced was the result of a medical professional breaching their duty of care.
However, there can be exceptions to this standard limit, such as in cases where the patient is a minor or of a reduced mental capacity.
To learn more about the time limit, as well as if any exceptions apply to your potential pharmacist negligence claim, call our team on the number above.
Examples Of Pharmacy Negligence
In this section, you will see some potential scenarios of how pharmacist negligence could occur.
- Administrative errors resulted in you receiving another patient’s prescription instead of your own. As a result, of this wrong patient medication error you take medicine that reacts with other medicine you are currently taking.
- A labelling error in the pharmacy resulted in you receiving the wrong medication. This medication did not treat your pneumonia, which developed further by the time you received your correct prescription.
- The pharmacist dispensed the incorrect dosage. This medication error resulted in an overdose that led to organ damage.
Not all of these examples mean you’re necessarily eligible to seek compensation. To do so, you need to prove you suffered avoidable harm after receiving substandard care from a medical professional, such as a pharmacist.
You can find out more regarding your eligibility to begin a claim in your particular circumstances by speaking to our advisors for a free consultation. Get in touch with our advisory team using the contact information given above.
How To Prove Pharmacy Negligence Claims
An important part of making your pharmacist negligence claim will involve providing supporting evidence. The body of evidence you collect will be used to show what negligent action took place, as well as the impact this had on your health.
Possible examples of evidence you could collect are:
- Medical records. For example, you could provide a copy of your prescription letter, or records of any tests that were done to diagnose you. You could also provide medical records from any additional treatment you received for the harm caused by the medication error.
- Keeping a diary during your treatment, making particular reference to the treatments you received and the symptoms you experienced. This can be useful in showing your physical and mental state before and after the negligence occurred.
- Retain the drug that was dispensed in error, including any medication packaging and labels to show the prescription error.
- Those who attended the pharmacy with you could be asked to provide witness statements. Make sure you have the relevant contact information so their statement can be taken during the claims process.
For support with collecting evidence for your potential claim, speak to one of our advisors for a free assessment of your eligibility. If eligible a solicitor from our expert panel could take on your case, and assist with the collection of evidence. To get your particular circumstances assessed, contact our advisors today.
Examples Of Pharmacist Negligence Claim Payouts
If your pharmacist negligence claim succeeds, you will receive a compensation award. This compensation can be made up of up to two heads of loss. The physical and/or psychiatric pain and suffering caused by the medical negligence is compensated under general damages. Certain financial losses associated with the medical negligence can be compensated under special damages.
Reference can be made to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) by those responsible for calculating general damages. This document, published by the Judicial College, provides details of various types of harm alongside guideline compensation amounts for each. You can see a relevant selection of these brackets in the table here. Please note that the top entry is not a JCG bracket.
Compensation Table
We would like to stress that this table has been included to act as guidance as claims for negligence by a pharmacy are valued on a case-by-case basis.
| Type of Harm | Severity | Guideline Compensation Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries and Illnesses Plus Special Damages | Serious | Up to £500,000 and above | A payout reflecting the pain and suffering of medical negligence in addition to financial losses caused, such as a loss of earnings, the cost of domestic care or travel costs. |
| Brain Damage | Moderate (c)(i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | Cases involving a moderate to severe impact on intellect, the senses and personality with a significant risk of epilepsy. There are also no employment prospects. |
| Epilepsy | Established Grand Mal (a) | £102,000 to £150,110 | An award for epilepsy is dependent on a range of factors including the success of medication controlling attacks, the impact on work and social life, and the prognosis of the condition. |
| Bowels | Total Loss of Function (b) | Up to £150,110 | A complete loss of natural bowel function and dependence on colostomy. |
| Male Reproductive System | Impotence or Sexual Dysfunction (c) | £43,010 to £88,750 | Significant sexual dysfunction or impotence that is likely permanent in a person with children or who would never have had them. |
| Bladder | Serious Impairment (c) | £63,980 to £79,930 | A serious impairment of bladder control with some incontinence and pain. |
| Female Reproductive System | Infertility With No Aggravating Features (c) | £56,080 to £71,350 | Cases where there is infertility in a young person without children, involving no sexual dysfunction or other aggravating features. |
| Kidney | Significant (b) | Up to £63,980 | There is a risk of future urinary tract infection or other complete loss of natural kidney function. |
| Digestive System | Illness/Damage (b)(i) | £38,430 to £52,500 | Severe toxicosis necessitating hospital admission, causing acute pain, diarrhoea and vomiting. Ongoing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, incontinence and haemorrhoids. |
| Spleen | Loss of Spleen (a) | £20,800 to £26,290 | The loss of the spleen with a continuing risk of infection and other disorders due to a damaged immune system. |
Special Damages
Special damages is the second head of claim that can make up compensation settlements. As mentioned, it awards for the financial losses stemming from the medical negligence. Some examples of costs you could be reimbursed for are given here:
- Loss of earnings.
- Care and support in the home.
- Medical expenses.
- Travel costs.
Retain copies of your payslips, invoices, travel tickets and receipts as proof you incurred monetary losses as a result of receiving the wrong medication or wrong dosage or were affected by another type of medication error.
Our advisors can provide a more detailed estimate of the compensation you could receive following a successful pharmacy negligence claim. Get your free assessment today by calling the number provide below.
What Are No Win No Fee Pharmacist Negligence Claims?
If you have eligible grounds to pursue a pharmacist negligence claim, you could instruct a solicitor to help you seek compensation on No Win No Fee terms.
Our panel of expert pharmacy negligence solicitors can offer their services under these terms by offering a Conditional Fee Agreement which is a kind of No Win No Fee contract.
By starting your potential claim under a CFA, you can enjoy considerable benefits, including no fees for the solicitor to begin work on your case in most circumstances, no ongoing fees for their work during the claims process itself, and finally, there will be no fee to pay the solicitor for their completed work if your claim loses.
However, upon a successful claim, you will receive pharmacy negligence compensation. You will pay a success fee to your solicitor; this is a percentage of your compensation that will be taken by the solicitor if they win your case. Per the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, the success fee percentage is capped at 25%. What this, therefore, means is that you will get to keep most of any compensation awarded.
Find out if you could be eligible to claim for pharmacist negligence with a solicitor by contacting our team. If eligible, a medical negligence solicitor from our panel could offer to take up your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
Contact Us
To find out how to claim against a healthcare professional or to get your free consultation regarding your eligibility, reach out to our advisors.
Our friendly and dedicated team are available 24 hours a day via the contact information provided here:
- Call the team on 020 3870 4868.
- Find out if you could begin your claim online by completing this form.
- Click the live chat button at the bottom of the screen to get a quick response to your queries.
Further Guidance On Claiming For Medication Negligence
You can read some of our other medical negligence claims guides here:
- Learn more about claiming for prescription errors in a pharmacy with this guide.
- Find out if you could be eligible to claim compensation after medication calculation errors caused you avoidable harm.
- Read our guide on how compensation in medical negligence claims for medication errors by nurses is calculated.
We have also included these links to some external resources with further information:
- Pharmacists in Great Britain are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GMC). You can learn more about the work they do on their website.
- NHS Resolution has published a report on learning from medication errors, which you can read here.
- The British Medical Journal has released this short article on the medication errors made in England every year.
Thank you for reading our guide on pharmacist negligence. For a free assessment of your eligibility to claim, get in touch with our advisors who are available 24/7. You can reach our team at any time using the contact information given above.
