My doctor prescribed the right drug, but the wrong dosage. Can I file a medical malpratice claim?

A: If your doctor prescribes the right drug but in the wrong dosage, this may be considered legally negligent and may create a cause of action for a medical malpractice suit. Your ability to sue your doctor for malpractice depends on whether his actions meet the legal definition of negligence, and on whether or not that negligence damaged you in some way.

How can I file a successful medical malpractice suit?

In order to sue your doctor for medical malpractice, you must prove:
•    That your doctor breached the required legal standard of care
•    That the breach of the legal standard of care was the proximate or direct cause of some injury you sustained.

How can I prove negligence?

To determine if your doctor breached the standard of care, a negligent professional standard is used. The physician is compared with a reasonable physician of similar specialty and educational background. For example, in this particular case, if no reasonable physician would have prescribed the wrong dosage of the medication in question, then the doctor may be viewed as having breached the standard of care.

How can I prove injury?

Negligence alone isn't enough to make a doctor liable for malpractice. The negligence must have been the direct cause of some type of compensable injury.

For example, if your doctor prescribed the right
drug in the wrong dosage but you realized the mistake before you took a pill, you didn't really suffer any compensable damage. While perhaps you might have had to make a second trip to the pharmacy to correct the error, there is nothing for your doctor to actually compensate you for.

On the other hand, if you took the incorrect dosage and it caused you to suffer a severe stroke and require rehabilitation and lifetime care, then a large medical malpractice suit may be possible.

If you believe you may have been the victim of medical malpractice, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately.  A lawyer can help determine if you have valid claim.



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