Our client was administered a powerful antipsychotic medication in place of their prescribed anti-nausea drug while recovering from surgery, leading to a prolonged psychotic episode and extended hospitalization. The immediate problem was untangling a chain of systemic failures. The hospital pharmacy blamed an automated dispensing system error and a harried technician, while the drug manufacturer's legal team argued the reaction, while severe, was a known possible side effect of their correctly labeled product.
The defense strategy was to fragment responsibility, making it difficult to pinpoint a single liable party and diminishing the perceived value of the claim.
We overcame this by meticulously mapping the hospital's medication administration protocol from prescription to bedside. Our investigation revealed that the pharmacy's dispensing error was only the first link in a broken chain; multiple subsequent verification checkpoints by nurses and the administering physician were also missed. We secured testimony from a pharmacologist who detailed how the drugs—with vastly different intended uses and risk profiles—could be confused due to similar-sounding brand names, a known hazard the hospital had failed to adequately guard against. By demonstrating this cascade of negligence across departments, we consolidated liability.
Confronted with evidence of a systemic safety breakdown that caused unambiguous harm, the defendants agreed to a significant settlement that covered our client's extensive medical bills, lost income, and long-term neurological care.
Result: Our client received compensation for all related injuries and ongoing care needs, and the hospital implemented new barcode scanning protocols and name-alert software to prevent future errors.