A jury recently awarded $25.8 million to a family of a Florida mother who died after suffering a massive stroke. The massive stroke was the result of a wrongly filled prescription at a Florida Walgreen's' store. Unfortunately, it was learned that allegedly a high school student who was reportedly assisting the pharmacist on duty made the actual mistake with the prescription medication.

Like other New Jersey malpractice cases, most that allege pharmaceutical malpractice require the use of an expert to identify what standards of care the pharmacist or the pharmacy employees may have violated. Most pharmaceutical malpractice cases arise when the pharmacist or pharmacy staff dispenses the improper medication. This may occur, as it did in the above jury verdict, where the pharmacy staff dispenses the wrong medication or the right medication and the wrong dosage. It may also occur where the pharmacist mis-reads the prescription provided by the medical doctor. Although the pharmacist usually has a duty to clarify what the prescription says, the pharmacist may not know that an error has occurred. Other such cases occur where the pharmacist fails to recognize a potential adverse drug interaction where a patient's new prescription is contraindicated to a prescribed medication that they are currently taking.

The second part of a pharmacist malpractice case deals with the damages sustained by the person that was prescribed the wrong medication. Damages can range from short-term effects of the improper medication to long-term effects to wrongful death. The other factor that must be considered is the length of time that the patient did not take their correct medication and whether the patient suffered as a result of not taking he proper prescription for his or her medical condition. For instance, there may be an increased incidence of recurrence of a disease if the proper medication is not taken in correct dosages or within the correct time frame. Evidence showing that the claimant suffered because he or she wasn't treating his or her medical condition could support an award of damages.

The important thing to remember as a victim of such malpractice is to preserve any and all evidence including, but not limited to, all paperwork received from the pharmacy, all paperwork received form your medical doctor, the prescription pill bottle with all labels attached and any unused portion of the improper medication. These steps may allow an attorney to quickly and efficiently evaluate any potential case.