When Ohio parents have a child with a health condition, their focus is typically on the child’s well-being, not the possibility of a medication error. Frighteningly, though, pharmaceutical mistakes happen every day across the country. Sometimes, the mistake is minor or someone catches it before major harm is done; unfortunately, this is not always the case. Far too often, the resulting drug injuries are severe if not fatal.
In another state, a mother has filed a lawsuit involving an alleged pharmaceutical mistake that sent her son to the intensive care unit. She claims that a Walgreen’s pharmacy filled a prescription for methadone for her bedridden son at more than five times the recommended dose. The son, aged 15 at the time the incident occurred, had been prescribed the medication for his bedsores.
In July 2016, the boy’s mother picked up the prescription from the pharmacy and gave it to her son the following day. After ingesting the medication, the boy vomited before turning blue. When he then stopped breathing, his mother gave him CPR. According to the suit, paramedics administered Narcan when they arrived on scene, after which he began breathing again.
Because the teen has a variety of health conditions that keep him confined to his bed, the extent of the overdose’s long-term effects aren’t yet fully apparent. This nightmare scenario is something any parent would dread for their children, chronic health conditions or no. Fortunately for anyone in Ohio who has gone through the harrowing experience of watching a child or loved one suffer from drug injuries due the fault or negligence of a health care professional, there are professional resources available to offer legal advice and representation on pharmaceutical litigation.
Source: stltoday.com, “Lawsuit says Florissant pharmacy’s methadone error sent child to ICU“, Robert Patrick, July 27, 2017
