Failure to Recognize Medication Overdose

When patients place their trust in medical professionals, they expect careful and accurate monitoring, especially when it comes to medication. Unfortunately, healthcare providers routinely fail to recognize medication overdose, a critical oversight that can lead to severe health complications and, in some cases, fatalities. If you or a loved one suffered harm due to a healthcare provider’s failure to recognize a medication overdose, you have the right to pursue damages from the parties responsible for harm, and you should speak to an attorney. The dedicated Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys of Arfaa Law Group take pride in advocating for those affected by negligent care, and if we represent you, we will work tirelessly to help you seek the compensation you need to recover.

Medication overdose occurs when a patient receives an amount of a drug that is toxic or harmful, whether due to incorrect dosing instructions, administration errors, or prescription of an inappropriate medication for the patient's health profile. Healthcare providers, including doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, are responsible for ensuring that patients receive medications safely, which includes prescribing the correct dose, monitoring the patient for adverse reactions, and adjusting treatment as necessary. When a healthcare provider fails to identify the signs of an overdose, the results can be catastrophic, leading to health complications, long-term injury, or death.

Symptoms of medication overdose vary widely based on the drug involved but may include severe fatigue, confusion, respiratory issues, cardiovascular distress, seizures, and organ damage. For example, a failure to recognize opioid overdose can result in respiratory depression and even coma, while an overdose of anticoagulants can lead to uncontrollable bleeding. Patients who suffer these adverse effects often require immediate medical intervention to prevent lasting damage or fatalities. When medical professionals fail to recognize and respond to these symptoms promptly, they place their patients at a heightened risk of harm, which could have been avoided with proper monitoring and care.

Healthcare providers have a duty to protect their patient’s health, which includes monitoring and recognizing signs of potential overdose, especially in patients with complex medication regimens or specific risk factors. When providers fail to uphold duty, they may be held legally accountable via a medical malpractice claim. In most instances, the patient, or the patient’s family, must demonstrate that the healthcare provider’s negligence led directly to their harm.

To prove negligence, Maryland law requires a plaintiff to establish four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. This means that the plaintiff must show that the defendant had a duty to uphold the applicable standard of care, which is the care a competent professional would offer in a similar situation. The plaintiff must also show that the defendant failed to uphold this duty and that this breach of care caused the patient’s injuries. In most cases, expert testimony is required to demonstrate what the standard of care should have been and how the provider’s failure to identify the overdose deviated from that standard. This is especially important in cases involving complex medication regimens or when there may have been multiple healthcare providers involved in the patient’s care.

Victims of medication overdose may seek compensation for various losses, including current and future medical expenses related to treatment, lost income if the injury impacted their ability to work, and non-economic damages such as pain, suffering, and emotional trauma. In cases where the overdose results in death, surviving family members may also have grounds for a wrongful death claim, which allows them to recover damages for loss of companionship, funeral expenses, and other related costs.

Failure to recognize medication overdose is a serious form of medical negligence, and those who suffer harm due to such failures have the right to seek justice. If you or someone close to you experienced harm due to a healthcare provider’s failure to identify an overdose, you may be eligible for compensation, and you should talk to an attorney. At Arfaa Law Group, our skilled Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys are dedicated to holding negligent providers accountable, and if we represent you, we will tirelessly pursue any damages available for the losses you have suffered. Our office is located in Baltimore, and we serve clients in Baltimore and throughout the state of Maryland. To schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal options, please contact our office today by calling 410-889-1850 or by completing our online form.