You want to trust that the drugs you get at a pharmacy are the correct ones. Sometimes, they are not.

This should never have happened, but it did, and the day was saved by an observant mom. This reported case happened in Colorado, when the mother went to the pharmacy to pick up what she thought was Motrin flu medication for her 2-year-old toddler.

When she got to the store, she went to the pharmacy section, and was given a bag with her child’s name on it, and handed more printed information on Motrin. When she got home and was about to give her son the medication, she noted that the bottle was smaller than what she was used to seeing. She had used Motrin before, and the bottle she had in her hand did not look quite right.

It turned out that the store had given her a drug called levetiracetam; a powerful anticonvulsant drug with mega side effects, including fever, a drop in white blood cell count and hallucinations. This epilepsy drug is not intended for any child under the age of four.

The mother called the store and spoke to the pharmacy manager about this potentially deadly error. The manager drove to her house with the correct medication and apologized profusely for the pharmacist’s error; indicating the person would be disciplined. Could he explain what happened in this case? Evidently he could not, and there would be an in-store investigation to find out what went wrong with their exiting safety check system for dispensing drugs.

As a mother, this is not something you ever want to happen to your child. In fact, you do not ever want it to happen to you either. Getting the wrong drug or even the wrong dose is an error that could result in serious injury to a patient, or death. We trust our pharmacists to provide us with the right medication in the right dose.

If something bad happens, and someone is hurt, this is referred to as medical malpractice – pharmacist malpractice to be precise. And yes, you can certainly file a personal injury lawsuit, or a wrongful death lawsuit, if you or someone else in your family has been hurt. You will need to contact an experienced New Hampshire personal injury lawyer in order to file your lawsuit.

Cases that involve medical/pharmacist malpractice can take a while to be resolved, but with the right New Hampshire personal injury lawyer on your side, your case will be handled expeditiously. You can count on that.

Charlie Donahue is a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States. To learn more about New Hampshire injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.