Were you injured by a pharmacy or medication dispensing error in Atlanta, GA?
At Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers, we provide pharmacy malpractice representation on a contingency basis, with no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.
If a pharmacist or pharmacy in Atlanta dispensed the wrong medication, strength, or instructions, we can trace the prescription through each verification step, identify where the error occurred, and pursue compensation from every party responsible. Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers handles claims against retail pharmacies, pharmacists, and the health care facilities that employ them.
Our Atlanta, GA pharmacy malpractice lawyer has handled Georgia malpractice cases from trial through appeal. Contact us to schedule a free case review.
Pharmacy Malpractice Lawyer Atlanta, GA
Pharmacy malpractice is a claim that a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or pharmacy failed to meet the professional standard of care in filling, labeling, or dispensing a prescription, and that the failure injured the patient. The FDA medication error guidance treats a medication error as a preventable event that can lead to improper use or patient harm, such as a wrong drug dispensed because two labels look alike.
Georgia dispensers filled more than 6.2 million opioid prescriptions for about 1.8 million patients in 2023, according to the state’s PDMP surveillance report. Opioids are one of several high-risk medications where an error in strength or directions can cause respiratory depression and other serious harm. An Atlanta pharmacy malpractice attorney examines whether the pharmacist’s check of strength and directions on your prescription met the required standard.
Types of Pharmacy Malpractice Cases We Handle in Atlanta
Pharmacy errors arise at intake, data entry, filling, final verification, and counseling. The AHRQ medication error primer describes medication errors as mistakes that can occur at any step between the prescription and the patient receiving the drug. As pharmacy malpractice lawyers in Atlanta, we handle claims involving chain and independent pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, mail-order services, and compounding facilities.
- Wrong medication dispensed. Substitutions between look-alike and sound-alike drugs can place a patient on a medication with an entirely different purpose. We compare the written prescription, the pharmacy’s data entry record, and the stock used to fill the order.
- Incorrect dose or strength. A misplaced decimal point or the wrong tablet strength can deliver several times the intended amount. Blood thinners, insulin, and opioids present particular risk when the strength is wrong.
- Dangerous drug interactions. Pharmacists review a patient’s medication profile before dispensing. A claim may arise when the pharmacy system generated an interaction alert and the prescription was filled without further review.
- Allergy and contraindication failures. A pharmacy with a documented allergy on file that dispenses a drug from the same class may be responsible for the reaction that follows.
- Labeling and instruction errors. An incorrect label can direct a patient to take a medication too often, by the wrong route, or for the wrong length of time.
- Wrong patient. Prescriptions are sometimes handed to the wrong person at pickup, including when two patients share a name or an address. The pharmacy’s identity verification procedures are central to these claims.
- Compounding errors. Compounded medications are prepared inside the pharmacy itself. Mistakes in potency, sterility, or ingredients trace back to the facility that mixed the product.
- Failure to counsel. A patient may leave the counter without instructions on how to take a new medication or which side effects call for medical attention. We review what the pharmacy documented about the counseling it provided.
- Hospital negligence. Intravenous admixtures and inpatient orders pass through a hospital pharmacy before a nurse administers them. An error at that stage, such as the wrong concentration, infusion rate, or bag, can support a claim against the hospital as well as its pharmacy staff.
Why Choose Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers as My Pharmacy Malpractice Lawyer in Atlanta, GA?
Verdicts Ranked Among Georgia’s Largest
A $50 million dental malpractice verdict and a $30 million medical malpractice verdict obtained by our firm are among the ten largest malpractice verdicts in Georgia history. The firm’s recoveries for clients have exceeded $200 million since 2019.
- $17.5 million for a medical malpractice client
- $16.8 million, medical malpractice
- $13.5 million recovered in a medical malpractice case
Appellate Work in Georgia and Federal Courts
Daniel J. Moriarty has led appeals before the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Eleventh Circuit in addition to his trial work. Pharmacy cases can involve disputed questions of law as well as fact, and we prepare the trial record with any later appeal in mind. Daniel spent his first six years in practice representing health care providers before turning to plaintiffs’ work in 2018. His undergraduate degree, earned with honors, is from the University of Notre Dame, and he completed law school at Texas Law, the University of Texas School of Law. That trial and appellate experience is available to every client who retains our firm’s medical malpractice lawyer in Atlanta, GA.
Understanding Pharmacy Malpractice Cases
What Are Important Aspects of a Pharmacy Malpractice Case?
A claim depends on proof that the pharmacy departed from accepted practice, not simply that a medication caused a side effect. That proof comes from the prescription, the pharmacy’s electronic records, and the medication itself.
- Preserving the medication. The bottle, label, remaining pills, and packaging show exactly what left the pharmacy.
- The dispensing record. Data entry logs, verification timestamps, and interaction alerts identify who handled the prescription and whether warnings appeared on screen.
- Every responsible party. The pharmacist, the pharmacy, and in some cases the prescriber may share responsibility, and the records show which of them handled each step.
- Medications with known hazards. Some drugs carry manufacturer warnings about serious risks. A pharmacy that dispenses one of these medications without the warnings or safety checks it calls for may be responsible for the resulting harm. When a product problem also contributed, we can pursue defective drug claims together with the pharmacy malpractice claim.
- Contact with the prescriber. When a dose or combination appears unusual, the pharmacy’s notes and call logs show whether the pharmacist raised the question with the prescribing physician before filling the order.
The Georgia Board of Pharmacy investigates complaints against pharmacists and pharmacies and may take disciplinary action. That process is separate from a civil claim for compensation.
What Is the Pharmacy Malpractice Case Timeline?
Georgia defines an action for medical malpractice in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-70 to include claims arising from prescription and other health services rendered by a person authorized by law to perform them. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71 then requires that such an action be filed within two years after the injury or death. A separate five-year statute of repose bars any action filed more than five years after the negligent act or omission.
- Evidence collection: We request the dispensing records and prescriber orders and arrange for the medication to be examined when it is available.
- Professional review: Our Atlanta, GA pharmacy malpractice attorney has a licensed professional compare the pharmacy’s conduct with accepted practice.
- Filing: We prepare the complaint against the pharmacy, the pharmacist, and any other responsible party and file it in a Georgia court with authority over those defendants. The Fulton County State Court is one of the courts that hears medical malpractice cases in Atlanta.
- Discovery: Written questions, document production, and depositions of the pharmacist and pharmacy managers.
- Resolution: Mediation, settlement, or trial. A contested case can take more than a year to resolve.
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Pharmacy Malpractice Cases
A pharmacy is liable when its error falls below the care a reasonably careful pharmacist would exercise and that error causes the injury. A side effect listed among known prescription drug risks is not, on its own, evidence of a dispensing error. Claims may name the pharmacist, the pharmacy that employs the pharmacist, or both.
O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 reduces an award by any share of fault assigned to the patient. A patient assigned 50 percent or more of the fault receives no damages. In medication cases, defendants sometimes argue that the patient took the drug differently than the label directed.
The cost of treating serious medication errors can include emergency care, hospitalization, and follow-up treatment, and those expenses are recoverable along with lost income. Pay records and employer statements document the income a patient lost while recovering. Compensation also covers physical pain, emotional distress, and lasting impairment, such as a brain injury following an overdose or a severe drop in blood sugar. The defense may argue that pre-existing conditions account for part of the harm, so the medical records are used to separate new injuries from prior ones.
What Should You Bring to Your Pharmacy Malpractice Consultation?
The medication and its packaging are the most important items to bring to your Atlanta pharmacy malpractice attorney. Other documents help us reconstruct the prescription from the original order to pickup.
- The bottle, label, any remaining medication, and the pharmacy information sheet
- A list of every medication you take, which matters most for older patients on several prescriptions
- Pharmacy receipts or insurance records showing the fill date
- Records of the emergency or hospital treatment that followed
- Any messages, call records, or written notices you received from the pharmacy about the prescription
At the meeting, we will go through these materials with you and explain whether the facts support a claim and what the next steps would be.
Reach Out to Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation
If a pharmacy error caused you harm, our Atlanta pharmacy malpractice lawyer can evaluate the prescription records and the medication at no charge. Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers charges no attorney fees in these cases unless compensation is recovered. During the consultation, we will explain the deadlines that apply to your claim and the steps for preserving evidence. Contact us to request your free consultation.