Mr B suffered from vertigo for several years which was more or less managed with medication prescribed by his GP.
Mr B was subject to a dispensing error when he was prescribed with another patient's medication which happened to be medication for Schizophrenia/Paranoia, as opposed to medication for his vertigo. Mr B took the medication unwittingly and began to suffer significant side effects of insomnia, lack of appetite, a feeling of depression, swollen hands, headaches, tiredness and was unable to leave his usual surroundings.
Mr B continued to take the medication for a period of 6 weeks as, in the first instance, he did not link the problems to the medication. The symptoms got worse in that he suffered with double vision, extreme neck pain and slurred speech. It was at this point that Mr B made enquiries with the pharmacist/medical staff and was simply ignored and told to continue taking the medication.
After around 6 weeks, the dispensing error was identified and it was accepted by the medical staff that Mr B had been given another patient's medication. Mr B was then given the correct medication but suffered the symptoms for a further 6-8 weeks after the error had been identified. Mr B not only suffered unnecessarily during this time but he also went without his usual vertigo medication which meant he suffered additional symptoms in this respect.
Clinical Negligence consists of a variety of incidents, including misdiagnosis, mistakes during an operation, misinformation and the prescription of incorrect drugs. The latter is the reason why Mr B made a claim.
A claim can be made for compensation for injury, pain or losses suffered as a result from negligent behaviour. Supportive evidence was obtained from a pharmacology expert and Mr B was awarded £2,500.00 in compensation for the pain he suffered.
Garratts Solicitors have an expert Medical Negligence legal team. If you feel that you may have been subject to a similar situation to Mr B or indeed if you feel you or your family have been subject to clinical negligence, please contact our specialist team on 0161 665 3502 to discuss further.
