M R Law has successfully recovered damages on behalf of a client who suffered an overdose of medication dispensed by his local chemist in error.

A hospital had prescribed our client medication as part of his ongoing treatment for a skin condition. He took the prescription to the local pharmacy, which dispensed the tablets with instructions that he should take “six daily for two months”.

The man began to take the medication as indicated on the label but rapidly began to feel very ill. He developed ulcers in his mouth, had difficulty swallowing and was suffering severe weight loss.

Upon attending at his GP he was advised to go immediately to hospital where he was assessed and treated, remaining in hospital as an inpatient. It later became apparent that the correct prescription was for six tablets on one day, not six each day for two months as dispensed by the chemist.

The overdose of what was a strong and powerful medication caused our client serious health issues from which he took some time to recover.

This was a clear and unfortunate error on the part of the chemist. On this occasion we were able to resolve the matter quickly with the chemist’s admission of an error on their part. ~Robert Barker

Robert Barker, Head of the Medical Negligence team at M R Law, dealt with this case. He comments, “This was a clear and unfortunate error on the part of the chemist. The consequences for our client were severe as he suffered a prolonged period of illness whilst the overdose of the medication cleared his system. In fact, the outcome could have been even worse had he continued to take the medication as advised.

Pharmacists and chemists owe as much obligation as doctors and other healthcare professionals to ensure they do not make these kinds of mistakes because the consequences can be just as severe.”

Talking about his client Barker says, “Fortunately, the vast majority of medication is dispensed without these problems occurring but mistakes do occur and at least on this occasion we were able to resolve the matter quickly upon behalf of our client with the chemist’s admission of an error on their part.”