What is my recourse against a pharmacy the gave me the wrong medication?
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What is my recourse against a pharmacy the gave me the wrong medication?
I found a tablet of “Finasteride” mixed in with a prescription for Prednisone which I took while I was pregnant. The Rx was filled at national chain pharmacy. Finasteride is “Pregnancy Category X” and pregnant women should not even handle the pills. The Finasteride pills look very similar to my Rx and I don’t know how many pills I took by mistake. My baby appears to be fine but I am very upset about this. Do I have any recourse?
Asked on December 6, 2010 under Personal Injury, Maryland
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Whether you have recourse depends upon whether you or your baby were harmed. In the best case, as everyone hopes, there was no injury done; in that case, while you can always complain to the pharmacy or its national management and see if they offer you any compensation, there is nothing to sue for--without injury, there is nothing to recover and the law does not compensate for "near misses."
If there is some harm, then this may well have been a case of projessional malpractice and negligence, under which you could sue for compensation for the harm, including for any medical costs it has or will cause. In the interim, hopefully that will not happen, but make sure to keep all evidence and records in a safe place, just in case.
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