One of the reasons residents of Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh area may decide to file a medical malpractice lawsuit is because of medication errors. These errors can take many forms including not paying attention to potential drug interactions, prescribing the wrong medication, filling a prescription with the wrong drug and engaging in activities that lead to a patient overdosing.

Patients overdosing on prescription drugs has become an issue over the course of the past few years. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, deaths due to overdose have been increasing for more than a decade. In 2010, a total of 38,329 people throughout the nation died after taking too many drugs, some of them prescription. In the case of prescription drug deaths, at least 74 percent of those deaths were not on purpose.

Because prescription drugs play such a large role in overdoses, it is important that doctors take the steps to ensure they are being taken correctly by their patients. In cases where physicians do not do this it is possible that the doctor could be sued for medical malpractice. Within the last year at least two individuals have succeeded in their cases. One was awarded $500,000 in the death of a spouse due to an accidental overdose and the other was awarded $1.9 million after being prescribed too much medication which caused her to suffer brain damage. Many other medical malpractice cases tied to prescription drug overdoses have likely settled.

One doctor believes that physicians can try to reduce the number of these incidents that occur by regularly monitoring their patient's prescription drug use. In addition, when possible, medications should be prescribed on a short term basis only. In some cases it may be a good idea for a doctor to consult with a colleague regarding the matter.

Source: American Medical News, "Physician liability: When an overdose brings a lawsuit," Alicia Gallegos, March 4, 2013