A medication error can happen when a medicine is prescribed, dispensed by a pharmacy, or given on a hospital ward. This page explains who is responsible at each stage, and the records that show where the mistake was made.
A medication error claim is a medical negligence claim for harm caused by the wrong medicine, the wrong dose, or a medicine given to someone it was known to be unsafe for.
The error can happen at three stages, and each has a different person responsible:
The Dunne test applies at each stage: did the doctor, pharmacist or nurse fall below the standard of a reasonably careful person doing that job, and did that cause harm?
Examples include bleeding from too high a dose of a blood thinner, a severe allergic reaction to a drug the patient's records said to avoid, kidney damage from a dose not adjusted for the patient's kidney function, and dangerously low blood sugar from the wrong insulin dose.
The expert evidence has to link the error to the harm, because some reactions happen even when a medicine is prescribed correctly.
Keep the medicine, its box and the pharmacy label, and photograph them. Then:
Proceedings issue in court once supportive expert evidence is in place. Medication error claims don't go through the Injuries Resolution Board. Read medication errors: what patients need to know.
Keep receipts and a short diary of symptoms from the day you took the wrong medicine.
Contact us through our enquiry form, phone, or email. We’ll review your situation, answer your questions, and explain what to expect next. There’s no upfront fee to begin your claim.
Your case will be carefully reviewed by our legal team.
We assess the strength of your claim, advise on the documentation needed, and guide you through key steps such as attending an independent medical examination and preparing the information required for the Injuries Resolution Board (IRB).
Once you decide to move forward, we take care of everything. This includes gathering evidence, contacting the other party or their insurer, submitting your claim to the IRB, managing settlement discussions, and handling any court proceedings if needed.
Paul Kearney founded the practice and leads its medical negligence work in Ireland. He is regulated by the Law Society of Ireland. Read Paul's profile.
Every medical negligence claim needs independent expert evidence. We instruct independent medical experts in the relevant field to report on the care you received and on what difference it made.
We get your medical records and go through them with you, so that you know where you stand before any claim is started.
There are no upfront fees. Before you go ahead, we set out in writing how legal costs work, as section 150 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 requires. No Win No Fee explained.
The claim is brought against the pharmacy business and, where relevant, the pharmacist who dispensed it. If the prescription itself was wrong, the prescriber may share responsibility, and the claim can be brought against both.
No. The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland regulates pharmacists and pharmacies and can sanction them after a complaint, but its guidance says it cannot award compensation or help you claim it. Compensation needs a separate legal claim.
Not always. Every medicine has known side effects, and a reaction to a medicine that was correctly prescribed and explained is not negligence.
It may be negligent if your records showed an allergy, if the dose was wrong for you, or if a known interaction was missed.
The drug chart records each dose given, so missed, doubled or wrong doses can usually be traced. Claims against public hospitals are managed by the State Claims Agency.
Where a medication error leads to a patient's death, it is a notifiable incident under Schedule 1 of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023.
No. Under Part 4 of the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017, information and apologies given in open disclosure are not an admission of liability. The drug chart and independent medical evidence prove what happened.
Speak to your GP, the prescriber or a pharmacist straight away, before you stop or change any medicine. Some medicines are dangerous to stop suddenly. Keep the packet and label either way.
No. Claims arising from a health service or medical treatment are outside the Board's remit under section 3 of the PIAB Act 2003, so they go to court once the evidence supports them.
Two years from your date of knowledge, under the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act 1991. That is usually when you learned the medicine or dose was wrong and that it may have harmed you. For a child, the two years start at 18.
No. There are no upfront fees. Before you go ahead, we give you clear written terms explaining how legal costs work, as section 150 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 requires. Read No Win No Fee explained.
Regulated by the Law Society of Ireland
Kearney Law handles only personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
We act for clients across Ireland, including Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Letterkenny. See all the areas we cover.
Contact us to talk to a solicitor about your claim, or request a case review.
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