A pharmacy prescription misfill occurs when the pharmacist fills a prescription with the wrong medicine. Sometimes the misfill can cause personal injury or death. When this occurs, the victim and or the victim's family should consult a personal injury attorney to decide whether it makes sense to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Recently, A Pharmacy misfill attorney brought suit on behalf of Reva Tosh and her husband, Gerald Tosh, against Rite Aid pharmacy in Montgomery, Alabama. According an article published January 27, 2010 in the Montgomery Advertiser Riva Tosh took her prescription for pain medicine to the Rite Aid to be filled. The prescription misfill occurred when the Rite Aid pharmacy filled the prescription with a steroid called dexamethasone, a steroid used in cancer treatment. The medicine was given in a dose seven times the normal dose. Mrs. Josh took it for 28 days before the prescription misfill was discovered.

The main issue at trial was whether Mrs. Josh's Cushing Syndrome, a disorder that caused her to have mental and physical problems was caused by the Rite Aid prescription misfill. The jury apparently believed that it did. The jury awarded Mrs. Josh 2 million dollars for her damages and awarded her husband $500,000.00 for loss of his wife's companionship.

A wrongful death lawsuit allows a family to hold a wrongdoer financially accountable for causing a loved ones death. Florida wrongful death lawsuits are controlled by The Florida Wrongful Death Act. Under the Florida statute, when a person dies as a result of someone else's negligence, the pain and suffering of the person involved in the fatal accident is not recoverable. Instead, the Wrongful Death Statute creates a claim on behalf of the Estate of the person that died and the person's survivors. The damages recoverable are described in Section 768.21 Florida Statutes.
The Estate of the person that died is entitled to damages for the economic losses of the Estate. Those losses include funeral expenses, medical bills caused by the death, and the amount of net income the decedent would have saved over his or her lifetime.

Certain survivors of the person involved in the fatal accident are also entitled to damages. For example, a surviving spouse may recover for loss of the decedent's companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering. Minor children of the decedent, and all children of the decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering. If the decedent was an adult without children or a spouse, then each parent of the adult child may recover for mental pain and suffering. If the decedent was a minor that was not married, the parents also may recover for mental pain and suffering.

Not all of the above damages are available in every case. Therefore, a Florida wrongful death lawyer will interview the family and friends of the person that died. The attorney will then compare the information obtained from the interviews with the damages allowed under the wrongful death statute to determine what damages are recoverable in a particular case.