A victim of medical malpractice certainly suffers the burden and pain of additional health problems, but the individual could also be forced to suffer the consequences of a medical professional’s mistake for the rest of his or her life. Although this type of situation is tragic, victims may be able to take legal action in order to ensure that a medical professional is held accountable for his or her negligence.
Last month, a woman from Salisbury, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit against a CVS pharmacy after the woman suffered serious injuries when the pharmacist gave her the wrong prescription.
According to court documents, the alleged negligence occurred in February when the victim sustained burns to her eyes after using a medical prescription that was meant to treat ear infections.
After experiencing flu-like symptoms, the Salisbury woman went to the Rowan County Health Department on Feb. 16 and was diagnosed with pink eye. Drops called Neomycin-Polymyxin were prescribed for her eyes and she went to a local CVS pharmacy to fill the prescription that day.
The lawsuit claims the woman followed the label’s instructions and used two drops every three to four hours in each eye. But the next day, the woman said that her eyes were burning. She noticed that the prescription box said to use the drops in ears only, so she called the CVS pharmacist. The pharmacist assured her that it was fine to use the drops for her eyes. The lawsuit states that the pharmacist did not attempt to research the woman’s concerns and instead instructed her to continue to use the prescribed drops.
The woman’s symptoms did not improve, and on Feb. 22, she returned to the Rowan County Health Department for evaluation. It was discovered that the woman was given the wrong prescription.
The lawsuit claims that due to the pharmacist’s mistake of filling the wrong prescription, the woman has deteriorated eyesight, now at 20/80 from 20/20, and abrasions on her corneas. As a result of the injuries, the woman must now wear sunglasses indoors and outdoors, and she has to take pain medication and seek other treatment for the damage. Her impaired vision has caused her to suffer serious falls and to lose her job.
Source: Salisbury Post, “Lawsuit: CVS gave wrong kind of drops,” Shavonne Potts, Oct. 29, 2011