Giving A Patient The Wrong Medicine

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I am frequently asked to comment on malpractice cases from around the county. Recently, a Chicago hospital settled a case for $3 million after it failed to properly treat a toddler for an allergic reaction to penicillin, which had been given to her for an ear infection despite previous signs of an allergy to the medication. The suit and an Illinois Appellate Court decision tied to the case suggest that efforts by the hospital’s risk manager, who is not employed there any longer, to investigate the girl’s death may have been obstructed by hospital administrators. Apparently, syringes, Intravenous tubes and other medical materials, which were physical evidence of the girl’s treatment that day , were tossed minutes after she died.

I have handled a number of medical malpractice cases in Baltimore, Maryland and other places involving medication errors. Most of the cases fall into two categories: giving a patient a medication they are allergic to or giving the patient the wrong medication. In fact, I am handling two such cases now. In this day and age of extensive documentation, these kind of medication errors shouldn’t happen. There is no excuse. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here .