This article will provide information about making a medical negligence claim after you sustained harm from wrongly prescribed quinine. We will include details about how this medication error could affect your health, the evidence that may be useful to produce in support of a claim, and the medical negligence time limits you must follow.
Wrongly prescribed quinine medical negligence claims
All medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care, which means that they need to provide their patients with the correct standard of care. When patients do not receive an adequate level of care, they might suffer harm that could have been avoided. This could include suffering the side effects of quinine tablets that were wrongly prescribed.
Keep reading to find out more about this topic. As an alternative, contact our advisers to find out if your circumstances make you eligible to make a medical negligence claim following an experience with wrongly prescribed quinine medication. You can reach our team 24/7 by:
- Calling an adviser at 0113 460 1216
- Speaking to our team via the chat box below
- Completing our contact form with your details
Choose A Section
- When Can You Claim For Wrongly Prescribed Quinine? – A Guide
- How Could You Be Wrongly Prescribed Quinine?
- What Evidence Could Help You Claim For A Quinine Medication Error?
- What Compensation Could Be Received From A Medical Negligence Claim?
- The Benefits Of Making A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
- Learn More About Claiming For Wrongly Prescribed Quinine
When Can You Claim For Wrongly Prescribed Quinine? – A Guide
The UK government states that quinine has significant toxicity in overdose. Additionally, they say in this drug safety summary that adverse events experienced while using this medication could include:
- Tinnitus and/or impaired hearing
- Abdominal pains
- Blurred or disturbed vision
- Headaches
- Nausea
- In rare cases, thrombocytopenia, which is a blood platelet deficiency
If you were prescribed or dispensed the wrong medication, you might be able to claim for medical negligence provided this caused you avoidable harm. We will discuss this in more detail in the next section. In the meantime, you can contact our advisers if you have specific questions about your eligibility to claim following being wrongly prescribed quinine.
How Could You Be Wrongly Prescribed Quinine?
To make a claim for medical negligence, you must be able to show that a medical professional did not give you the correct standard of care while treating you, leading to a situation in which you suffered avoidable harm. For example, some causes of medication errors could include:
- A doctor prescribes quinine tablets despite your medical records clearly indicating that you have had a negative reaction to it in the past.
- A nurse is tired and distracted and, as a result, gives you the wrong dose of quinine. You might not receive adequate treatment for your injuries if you receive too low a dose.
- A pharmacist could dispense the wrong medication because two patients with very similar names fill their prescriptions on the same day. This could be an example of a breach of duty of care if the pharmacist fails to confirm patient identities before giving out the prescriptions.
It is important to note that medication negligence claims can only be made by those who suffer avoidable harm because of a breach of duty of care. Contact our advisers to learn more about how being wrongly prescribed quinine could form the basis for hospital negligence. Our team could talk to you about claiming compensation for prescription errors, for example, if the wrong medication was given by a pharmacy.
What Evidence Could Help You Claim For A Quinine Medication Error?
When seeking compensation for medical negligence, you must produce evidence regarding certain aspects of the claim. For example, it may help your claim to provide:
- Pictures of the prescription label
- A copy of your medical records
- Written notes about the medical professionals involved, dates of certain incidents, and locations where they occurred
It is also important to make sure you begin a claim within the allowed time limit. For medical negligence claims, you must begin the process of claiming within:
- 3 years from the date of the incident
- 3 years of realising the harm you experienced was caused by negligence
If a child or person without the capacity to claim experiences harm because they were not given the correct level of care, the time limit for their potential claims is suspended until certain criteria are met. If you would like to know more, you can contact our team of advisers and ask about how to claim for harm caused by wrongly prescribed quinine.
What Compensation Could Be Received From A Medical Negligence Claim?
The compensation you may be able to claim for medication errors, including hospital medication errors, will depend upon the severity of the harm you sustained. Compensation can also include up to two heads of claim, so the amount you receive may include payments for your suffering and financial losses you have incurred due to the harm.
The first head of claim is known as general damages. This is intended as a way to reimburse you for the suffering you experienced. To help assess how much this head of claim may be worth, a solicitor will usually refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). We included a table below showing some of the JCG’s compensation brackets.
| Type of Harm Sustained | Judicial College Guidelines Brackets | Further Information |
|---|---|---|
| Injuries Affecting Sight (a) | In the region of £268,720 | Total blindness. |
| Injuries Affecting Sight (c) (i) | £95,990 to £179,770 | Loss of sight in one eye accompanied by reduced vision in the second, with serious risk of further degeneration. |
| Injuries Affecting Sight (g) | £9,110 to £20,980 | Minor but permanent impairment of vision in one or both eyes. |
| Severe Psychiatric Damage Generally | £54,830 to £115,730 | Marked problems with respect to life, education, or work, as well as relationships. Award depends upon future vulnerability and the extent to which treatment may help. |
| Moderately Severe Psychiatric Damage Generally | £19,070 to £54,830 | Significant problems with the above factors. However, the overall prognosis is better. |
| Moderate Psychiatric Damage | £5,860 to £19,070 | Marked improvement with regards to the above factors by the time of the trial. |
| Deafness/Tinnitus | £90,750 to £109,650 | Total deafness that may or may not involve a speech impediment and/or tinnitus. |
| Deafness/Tinnitus | £31,310 to £45,540 | Total loss of hearing in one ear. |
| Moderately Severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | £23,150 to £59,860 | Effects that cause significant disability for the foreseeable future. Prognosis for some recovery with professional help. |
| Digestive System (b) (i) | £38,430 to £52,500 | Severe toxicosis causing acute pain and vomiting of a severity that requires hospital admission. |
These figures are guidelines only. Consequently, it is impossible to say how much compensation a person might receive, as every claim and the circumstances around it are unique. These circumstances can also impact other factors, such as how long the medical negligence claim takes to conclude.
Special Damages In Hospital Negligence Claims
Additionally, your compensation could benefit from a second head of claim known as special damages. These are intended as a way to help you recoup the financial losses you have incurred due to the harm you suffered. To illustrate, special damages could include payments for:
- Lost earnings, past and future
- Medical expenses incurred treating the harm you suffered
- Travel expenses incurred getting to and from medical appointments
Contact our advisers to find out more about how a claim could recompense you for the harm resulting from wrongly prescribed quinine medication. Our team can offer information about the validity of your potential claim following medication errors in healthcare.
The Benefits Of Making A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
Although you do not need a lawyer to help you claim, it can be beneficial to have years of knowledge and experience on your side. The No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel may be able to offer their help in a way that means you might not have to pay upfront for their services.
Specifically, they may be able to offer you a kind of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). By agreeing to these terms, you generally don’t have to pay for their services if your claim fails. You would also generally not have to pay upfront or during the process of claiming for the work that they do.
Instead, your solicitor would take what’s called a success fee from your compensation at the very end of the process if your claim succeeds. This fee is subject to a legal cap.
Contact Us To See If You Can Claim For The Side Effects Of Quinine Tablets
Contact our team to find out more about how a No Win No Fee agreement could help you claim compensation for the harm caused by an incorrect prescription. They can offer free advice about the merits of your potential claim. Reach us by:
- Calling an adviser at 0113 460 1216
- Speaking to our team via the chat box below
- Completing our contact form with your details
Learn More About Claiming For Wrongly Prescribed Quinine
Find out more using our helpful guides below:
Can I Use A Medical Negligence Calculator?
Medication Errors By Nurses – Could I Claim Compensation?
What Is The Average Payout For Medical Negligence Resulting In Death?
Third-party information that may be of use:
Pharmacy Standards – The General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPC) standards for pharmacy professionals and registered pharmacies.
Good Medical Practice – Resource about the General Medical Council’s (GMC) standards of practice for doctors.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code – Information about the standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates.
We hope this article has provided useful information about your ability to claim compensation after being wrongly prescribed quinine medication. For more detailed information, contact our team using the details below.
Writer Morgan Filly
Publisher Fern Smith
