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Drugs & Medical Devices

Can Patients Sue for Adverse Drug Events Occurring During a Hospital Admission?


— November 7, 2022

Patients have rights to expect delivery of consistent and specialized methods in their standard of care.


Patient harms due to an adverse drug event can be caused by administrative error, professional error, or pharmaceutical preparation error for example when a drug may be mismarked, or a dosage miscalculated and passed on from the pharmacy to the frontline caregiver who gives the patient the medication and may fall responsible for the negative healthcare event. A hospital’s standard operating policy should address the chain of movement for patient medications in a hospital setting and deviations which result in patient harm must be reviewed. Errors may occur through verification by hospital pharmacists regarding medication and dose, administration methods, dosing schedules and other patient-related issues that may increase ADE, or a health care practitioner may give the patient the wrong dosage or give a patient a medication prescribed for another individual. When patients are harmed while under the care of medical teams they may wonder: “Where can I find attorneys near me?” to assist with guidance and necessary litigation to cover related medical costs, wage loss, or pain and suffering due to changes caused by the negative hospital event of an adverse drug error.

Damage recovery

Medical malpractice attorneys are effective in the recovery of damage compensation for adverse medical harms when individuals are injured or die as a direct result of a health care professional’s actions. The incident must occur while an individual is under the care of a particular health care provider, establishing a professional relationship, and result in a focused injury, or residual long-term harms stemming from a misdiagnosis of a condition, poor care and treatment, or disruptions in health care management after an initial treatment. They will utilize federal and Michigan state laws to initiate litigation to assist victims who have suffered after an adverse drug event caused complications and side effects. Multiple defendants can be named in legal actions and Michigan law will determine if they are jointly, or severally responsible for the damage awards. 

Professional standard of care

Certain medical standards are recognized by medical professionals as being acceptable medical treatment undertaken by prudent health care professionals under the same, or similar conditions referred to as “the standard of care.” Patients have rights to expect delivery of consistent and specialized methods in their standard of care. Negligence must provide four elements to include:

  • A health care professional owed a duty of care to a patient,
  • A health care professional deviated from a professionally acknowledged standard of care,
  • A patient suffered damages,
  • Damages were the direct result of the health care professional’s deviation.

Injury caused by negligence

Negligence Lawsuit Filed Against Hospital, Doctors After Child's Death
Photo by Laura James from Pexels

Michigan malpractice lawyers must prove that deviations from the professional standard of care resulted in the medical injury and caused a loss of income, substantial and residual pain, continuing suffering and hardship, extraordinary and sometimes exorbitant past and future medical bills related to treatment, all of which must add up to considerable damage amounts to be worthwhile to litigate. They can work with insurance companies who may be willing to offer a comprehensive settlement to cover the injury and damages to the patient when court action may be too costly. 

Hire a lawyer

Legal action for medical malpractice claims is usually initiated within the state, but there are times when federal court will have jurisdiction over a medical  malpractice claim if the parties named in the claim are citizens of different states, or under the Federal Torts Claim Act (FTCA), when medical malpractice lawsuits are filed against physicians working at medical facilities operated by the federal government. Victims of adverse drug events malpractice should consult with a skilled malpractice lawyer at Meyers Law PLLC, as they can explain the importance of the burden of proof involved in the formal legal action and proceed to work with insurance companies and medical care providers.

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