Health conditions naturally change over time, so your doctor should consider your age, weight, organ function, response to treatment and potential drug effects when managing your care. Medication adjustments may become necessary after surgery, during a lifestyle change or when starting new prescriptions.
But what happens when your treatment stays the same even though your condition has changed? Failing to adjust your medication can be more than a mistake, as it may lead to medical malpractice.
When a mistake becomes medical malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider makes a serious, preventable mistake that harms you as a patient. This is not just any error, but a failure to provide the level of care expected from a similarly trained professional. This might involve a wrong diagnosis, a surgical error, a medication mix-up or inadequate follow-up care.
In medication adjustments, legal issues may happen when your physician keeps you on the same dosage even as side effects get worse, ignores lab results showing drug toxicity, disregards drug interaction after new prescriptions or fails to lower a dose after you recover from a certain illness or health condition.
Mismanaging your medication could put you at risk for serious or lasting injuries. Depending on the drug and your situation, you might face organ damage, infections, seizures or heart and blood pressure issues that make existing conditions worse.
Elements of a medical malpractice claim
When a medication causes harm, four few key elements usually need to exist before you can pursue a malpractice claim. These include:
- A duty of care, meaning your healthcare provider agreed to prescribe or manage your medication responsibly
- A breach of duty, where the health provider may have made a mistake like prescribing the wrong drug or dosage
- Causation, showing that the medication error likely led to your injury or illness
- Damages, which may include pain, lasting health problems and medical bills
Causation often is evident in most of these cases. Judges generally use the “but for” test to determine causation. They ask whether the injury would have happened if the health provider had not made a mistake. If the answer is no, the court may view the error as the likely cause of harm.
For example, if a doctor prescribed the wrong dosage and that mistake caused an adverse reaction, that could show causation. But if the same reaction would have happened even with the correct medication, the claim may not move forward.
Pursuing a medical malpractice claim
Even if you take every precaution, medical mistakes can still happen. A medical malpractice claim gives you a legal pathway to hold healthcare providers accountable. This action could help cover medical bills, lost income or other costs that might come from the failure to adjust medication.
Filing a claim does not automatically validate an error. It starts a process to review if the provider’s care fell below the accepted standard of care. Many claims resolve through settlement negotiations with the involved party, while others require litigation if the parties cannot reach an agreement.
You generally have one year from when you discover an injury to file a medical malpractice claim. Some situations allow a little more time, but never more than the four-year Statute of Repose, which is from the date the negligent act or omission happened, no matter when you find out about it.
Take charge of your health and treatment
When you stay informed and consistently track your prescriptions, you position yourself as your strongest advocate. Raising concerns about prescription changes and asking about your care can help you remain involved in your treatment. If complications arise, taking the right action can protect your health and legal rights.