When you pick up a prescription from your local pharmacy in Salt Lake City, Provo, or anywhere else in Utah, you trust that healthcare professionals have done their jobs correctly. Unfortunately, that trust is sometimes misplaced. Medication errors happen more often than most people realize, and the consequences can be life-altering.
Last year, we met with a client from Ogden whose life changed forever because a pharmacist dispensed the wrong heart medication. What should have been a routine prescription refill turned into a weeks-long hospital stay. According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people annually in the United States. In Utah alone, hundreds of patients suffer preventable medication-related injuries each year.
What Counts as a Medication Error?
Medication errors can happen at any point between your doctor writing a prescription and you taking the medication at home. Sometimes a physician prescribes the wrong drug or dosage because they didn’t thoroughly review your medical history. Other times, a pharmacist misreads a prescription and fills it with an entirely different medication. In hospitals, nurses might administer medication through the wrong route or give it to the wrong patient entirely.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration tracks these errors nationally. They’ve found that some of the most common problems include confusion between drugs with similar names, misinterpretation of handwritten prescriptions, calculation errors when determining dosages, failure to check for dangerous drug interactions, and simple mix-ups where medication goes to the wrong patient.
Here’s what separates a genuine error from an unfortunate outcome: negligence. Not every bad result from medication qualifies as malpractice. Sometimes patients have rare reactions that nobody could have predicted. What makes an error actionable is when a healthcare provider fails to meet the standard of care that other competent professionals would have met in similar circumstances.
How Medical Malpractice Works in Utah
Medical malpractice cases follow a specific framework in Utah. To win your case, you’ll need to prove four things: that the healthcare provider owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty, that their breach directly caused your injury, and that you suffered actual damages.
The duty of care is usually straightforward—it exists when you become someone’s patient. The breach is where things get complex. You need to show that the provider’s actions fell below what a reasonably competent professional would have done. For medication errors, this might mean proving that a competent pharmacist would have caught a dangerous drug interaction that your pharmacist missed.
Causation can be tricky. You must prove that the error actually caused your harm. If you would have had the same outcome even with the correct medication, you don’t have a case. Finally, you need real damages—physical injuries, medical bills, lost wages, or pain and suffering.
Utah law puts some time limits on these cases. According to Utah Code § 78B-3-404, you generally have two years from when the injury occurred (or when you reasonably should have discovered it) to file a lawsuit. There are exceptions, but they’re narrow. This is why acting quickly matters so much.
The Different Ways Medication Errors Happen
Over the years, we’ve seen medication errors occur in patterns. Prescribing errors usually start in the doctor’s office. Maybe your physician didn’t notice that you’re allergic to penicillin before prescribing an antibiotic in that family. Perhaps they forgot to check whether a new medication would interact dangerously with something you’re already taking. Sometimes doctors prescribe the wrong dosage for your age, weight, or condition.
Dispensing errors happen at the pharmacy counter. Despite safety systems pharmacies have implemented, mistakes still occur. A pharmacist might grab the wrong bottle from the shelf, especially when drug names sound similar. They might enter the wrong instructions into the computer system. Or they might fail to notice that your new prescription could cause a serious interaction with another medication you’re taking.
Then there are administration errors in hospitals and medical facilities throughout Utah. We’ve represented clients at facilities in Salt Lake County, Utah County, and across the state who received medications meant for their roommate. Others got the right medication but through the wrong route—pills crushed and given through a feeding tube when they should have been swallowed whole, or medications injected when they should have been given orally. Some patients received medications at the wrong time or in incorrect doses because of calculation errors.
Monitoring errors are perhaps the most insidious because they involve ongoing negligence. Certain medications require regular blood tests to make sure levels stay therapeutic without becoming toxic. When healthcare providers fail to order these tests or ignore concerning results, patients can develop serious complications that proper monitoring would have prevented.
Who’s Responsible When Mistakes Happen?
Figuring out who to hold accountable isn’t always simple. Multiple people might share responsibility for a single medication error.
Doctors carry the initial responsibility for prescribing appropriately. If your physician prescribes medication without taking an adequate history, fails to consider your allergies, or ignores dangerous drug interactions, they may be liable for the resulting harm.
Pharmacists serve as a critical safety check in the system. Even when a doctor makes a prescribing error, pharmacists are expected to catch it. They have an independent duty to verify prescriptions and counsel patients about proper use. When they fail in this duty, they can be held accountable.
Hospitals and medical facilities can be liable in two ways. First, they’re responsible for their employees’ actions under the legal principle of vicarious liability. Second, they can be directly liable if their policies, staffing levels, or systems contributed to the error.
Sometimes pharmaceutical companies bear responsibility. If inadequate labeling, confusing packaging, or insufficient warnings about side effects or interactions contributed to your injury, the manufacturer might be liable.
In many cases, more than one party shares fault. This is common in medication error cases, and it doesn’t prevent you from recovering compensation—it just means the responsibility gets divided among multiple defendants.
What to Do After a Medication Error
If you suspect a medication error has harmed you, your health comes first. Get medical attention immediately. Make sure your current doctors know about the error so they can provide appropriate treatment and prevent further harm.
While you’re getting treatment, start documenting everything. Keep all your medication bottles, packaging, and pharmacy paperwork. If you have visible injuries, photograph them. Write down your symptoms, how you’re feeling, and how the injury is affecting your daily life. Detailed records strengthen your case.
You have a legal right to your medical records in Utah, and you should request them from every provider and facility involved in your care. These records are crucial evidence, so don’t wait—they can become harder to obtain over time.
This is also when you should talk to a medical malpractice lawyer. These cases involve complex medical and legal questions that most people can’t navigate alone. A qualified attorney can tell you whether you have a viable claim, what it might be worth, and make sure you don’t miss important deadlines.
Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Medication error cases aren’t straightforward. They require extensive investigation and expert medical testimony. When you work with us at AVS Law Group, we start by thoroughly reviewing your medical records and consulting with medical experts who can assess whether the standard of care was breached.
These experts might include pharmacologists who understand drug interactions, physicians who can speak to prescribing standards, or pharmacists who know industry protocols. Their testimony is essential because Utah law requires expert evidence in medical malpractice cases.
We also investigate the systems and policies at the healthcare facility or pharmacy where the error occurred. Sometimes medication errors aren’t just individual mistakes—they’re symptoms of understaffing, inadequate training, or faulty procedures. Identifying these systemic problems strengthens your case and helps prevent future harm to other patients.
Healthcare organizations have substantial resources and legal teams dedicated to minimizing their liability. They’ll argue that no error occurred, that you contributed to your own injury, or that your outcome would have been the same regardless. Having an experienced advocate levels the playing field.
What Can You Recover in a Medication Error Case?
Utah law allows you to seek several types of compensation. Economic damages cover your measurable financial losses—past and future medical expenses, lost wages while you were unable to work, and reduced earning capacity if the error has left you with permanent limitations.
Non-economic damages compensate you for things that don’t have price tags: your pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent disability or disfigurement. Utah used to cap these damages in medical malpractice cases, but the Utah Supreme Court struck down that limitation in 2016. Now juries can award non-economic damages based on the full extent of your suffering.
In rare cases involving particularly reckless or intentional misconduct, punitive damages might be available. These are meant to punish the defendant and deter similar behavior, though courts reserve them for extreme cases.
The Challenges You’ll Face
We won’t sugarcoat it—medical malpractice cases are challenging. Utah requires plaintiffs to file a certificate of merit with their lawsuit, which means a qualified medical expert must review your case first and confirm it has merit. This requirement screens out frivolous claims, but it also means you need expert support from the beginning.
Healthcare providers often argue that your poor outcome wasn’t caused by negligence but was instead a known risk of treatment or a complication of your underlying condition. Separating true errors from unavoidable complications requires careful analysis and compelling expert testimony.
Defense attorneys may also claim you contributed to your own injury—maybe by not following instructions, failing to disclose important medical history, or delaying treatment after the error. Utah follows modified comparative negligence, which means you can still recover damages even if you were partially at fault, as long as your responsibility doesn’t exceed the defendant’s.
Our Commitment at AVS Law Group
We’ve spent years representing Utah residents across the Wasatch Front who’ve been harmed by medical negligence, including medication errors. Whether you’re in Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden, or a rural Utah community, we understand how overwhelming this situation feels. You’re dealing with injury, medical bills, possible inability to work, and complex legal proceedings on top of everything else.
That’s where we come in. We handle these cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you. You shouldn’t have to choose between getting legal help and paying your medical bills.
Our approach combines thorough investigation, collaboration with leading medical experts, and aggressive advocacy. We’ve successfully represented numerous clients throughout Utah who suffered harm due to medication errors, securing compensation that helps them rebuild their lives. Our experienced personal injury team has the knowledge and resources to take on large healthcare systems and insurance companies.
If your case involves severe injury or wrongful death, our wrongful death attorneys can also help your family pursue justice and accountability.
Taking the Next Step
If a medication error has injured you or someone you love in Utah, waiting isn’t an option. Utah’s statute of limitations creates firm deadlines that can cost you your right to compensation. Evidence also becomes harder to gather over time—memories fade, witnesses become unavailable, and medical records can be difficult to obtain.
Beyond your individual case, taking legal action serves a broader purpose. It identifies dangerous practices and systemic problems, holding healthcare providers accountable and preventing similar errors from harming other Utah patients.
You deserve answers about what happened. You deserve compensation for your suffering. And you deserve justice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to hire a medical malpractice lawyer in Utah?
At AVS Law Group, we handle medication error and medical malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing upfront, and we only collect attorney fees if we win your case. Our fee comes as a percentage of your settlement or verdict, so there’s no financial risk to you. We offer free initial consultations to evaluate your case.
What is the average settlement for medication errors in Utah?
Every medication error case is unique, and settlement values vary widely based on the severity of your injuries, the extent of negligence, your medical expenses, lost income, and impact on your quality of life. Some cases settle for tens of thousands of dollars, while others involving permanent disability or wrongful death can result in settlements worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. During your free consultation, we can assess what your specific case might be worth.
How long do I have to file a medication error lawsuit in Utah?
Under Utah Code § 78B-3-404, you generally have two years from the date of injury (or from when you reasonably should have discovered it) to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. However, there are exceptions to this rule, which is why consulting with a medical malpractice lawyer quickly is critical. Waiting too long can result in losing your right to pursue compensation.
Can I sue if the medication error happened at a hospital?
Yes. Hospitals can be held liable for medication errors on their premises, including mistakes made by employed nurses, pharmacists, and other staff. Hospitals may be liable under vicarious liability (responsibility for their employees’ actions) or through direct liability if their policies, procedures, or staffing decisions contributed to the error. Utah hospitals have a duty to implement safety protocols that prevent medication errors.
What if I’m partially to blame for the medication error?
Utah follows a modified comparative negligence rule. You can still recover damages even if you were partially at fault, as long as your percentage of fault is less than the defendant’s. For example, if you failed to mention an allergy but the pharmacist also failed to check your records, you might share some responsibility. Your compensation would be reduced by your percentage of fault. However, if you’re 50% or more at fault, you cannot recover damages. A skilled medical malpractice lawyer can help minimize any claims that you contributed to your injury.
Do I need to prove the healthcare provider intended to harm me?
No. Medical malpractice cases, including medication error claims, are based on negligence, not intent. You don’t need to prove that the doctor, pharmacist, or nurse wanted to harm you. You only need to show that they failed to meet the accepted standard of care and that this failure caused your injury. Most medication errors result from carelessness, system failures, or mistakes—not malicious intent.
Contact AVS Law Group today at 801-685-5200 for a free, confidential consultation about your potential medication error claim. We serve clients throughout Utah, including Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden, St. George, Orem, and surrounding communities. We’ll listen to your story, answer your questions, and provide honest guidance about your legal options. You deserve justice, and we’re here to help you pursue it.
