Lilly, O'Toole & Brown Blog

Drug Recalls Can Come Too Late

Recently there has been a spate of drug recalls for a number of reasons.  A large portion of the drugs have been manufactured overseas and have not receive very much oversight.  As a result of the poor oversight overseas and the overworked Food and Drug Administration that is tasked with assuring drug safety in the United States the problem continues to grow.  Recently several heart drugs were recalled due to problems with dosage.  While the bottle may say the pill contains 30 milligrams of the drug, the pill in fact contains twice that dosage.  This is significant enough for the effect on a healthy person, but the person taking the medication is already dealing with heart issues which, like any other organ in the body, is badly effected by overdose.  This does not appear to be a medical malpractice issue, as the pills are manufactured and distributed without the doctor even being aware of the problem.  The only potential malpractice issue would be if the patient consults the doctor while taking the medication and the doctor does not recognize the signs of overdose.  When getting a prescription filled it is a good idea to make sure you know what you are getting.  Talk to the pharmacist and read all the paperwork to be informed.

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