Skip to content 
Last updated 28th October 2025. Prescription error claims are the legal process in which patients can pursue medical negligence compensation for any unnecessary suffering caused by a healthcare professional’s mistakes in prescribing or administering medication. These errors may involve prescribing the wrong dosage or medication type, or failing to check for allergies.
Key Takeaways In Prescription Error Claims
- You could make a medical negligence compensation claim if harmed by a prescription error.
- Claimants must show that a healthcare or medical professional acted negligently.
- You could be awarded compensation for your pain and suffering as well as financial losses.
- You must begin your claim within the applicable time limit.
- A specialist solicitor from Advice could help you on a No Win No Fee basis.
Please contact our team if a medication error has caused you or a loved one unnecessary harm.
Chat With Us Today
Browse Our Guide
- What Is An Error In Prescription?
- Case Study: GP Failure To Check Allergy
- How Do You Know If You Have A Medical Negligence Claim For An Error In Prescription?
- How Could A Prescription Error Affect You?
- Compensation In Prescription Error Claims
- Why Should I Claim Medical Negligence Compensation?
- How Can Advice Help Me With A Prescription Error Claim?
- More Information
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is An Error In Prescription?
According to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in 2022/23 1.18 billion items were dispensed in the community in England. Whilst the vast majority of these prescriptions are correctly prescribed and dispensed, errors do occur.
According to research by the University of Sheffield, there are as many as 66 million errors per year which are potentially clinically significant. Where medication errors do occur they could potentially have a catastrophic effect on a patient’s health.
Prescription errors may be made by doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals involved in the prescribing, dispensing or administration of medication. The error could occur when you are diagnosed by a GP, when medication is administered in a hospital or when collecting a prescription from a pharmacy.
Types of medication errors by doctors could include:
- Prescribing a patient the wrong medication.
- Prescribing the wrong dosage.
- Providing the wrong instructions, such as how much of the medication a patient should take or how frequently they should be taken.
- Prescribing medication which could have an adverse reaction with other medication the patient is already taking.
- Prescribing medication which could cause an allergic reaction either without checking for known allergies or ignoring medical records showing an allergy.
- Not checking on a patient and altering a dosage as necessary.
Errors could also occur when medications are dispensed from either a community or hospital pharmacy. Examples of pharmacy prescription errors could include:
- A pharmacist dispensing the wrong medication. You may have been given the wrong medication instead of your regular medication.
- Dispensing the incorrect dosage of a medication.
- Failing to provide instructions or giving the wrong instructions.
- Incorrectly labelling the medication.
- Giving a patient someone else’s prescription.
Please contact our team if you or a loved one has been harmed by these or any other type of prescription error.
Case Study: GP Failure To Check Allergy
In this illustrative case study of a GP’s failure to check for an allergy, Ms R visited her doctor after experiencing flu-like symptoms in her chest and throat. She was diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection and prescribed a penicillin antibiotic. Her patient notes showed she had a known serious penicillin allergy, but the GP failed to check her records properly.
She experienced severe anaphylaxis and was rushed to hospital for treatment. While doctors were able to stabilise and later discharge her, the incident left her feeling very weak and unable to work for weeks. Ms R also required additional support around her home as well as counselling at considerable expense.
Subsequently, Ms R contacted an expert prescription error claims solicitor. After the GP surgery admitted liability for the incident, the solicitor negotiated a £60,000 compensation payout for the unnecessary harm caused to Ms R, as well as the costs she incurred.
How Do You Know If You Have A Medical Negligence Claim For An Error In Prescription
Pharmacists and medical professionals, such as doctors and nurses, have a duty of care to patients. Whether treating you, prescribing, administering or dispensing medication, they must ensure that they meet the minimum professional standard expected of them. For example, doctors should meet professional standards set by the General Medical Council.
The failure to meet such standards could lead to a patient suffering avoidable and unnecessary harm. For instance, if a GP did not take your medical history into account when prescribing medication and you suffered an allergic reaction, it could be said that negligence occurred.
The criteria any medical negligence claim must meet are:
- A healthcare or medical professional owed a duty of care to a patient.
- They breached this, such as through examples provided in this guide.
- The patient suffered avoidable and unnecessary harm.
Our team can assess your case and determine whether you have a valid prescription error compensation claim. Please contact us for more information on who could claim for prescription errors by a pharmacy.
How Could A Prescription Error Affect You?
Whilst medications are rigorously tested to ensure their safety, they should only be used in the way in which the manufacturer recommends. Medical professionals must also ensure that when prescribing, administering or dispensing medication, they do so in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines on dosage.
Medication errors could impact you in several different ways. Such as:
- By getting the wrong medication, incorrect dosage or otherwise not getting the right prescription your condition may become worse.
- Prescribing conflicting medications could cause adverse reactions. Symptoms may include nausea, dizziness, diarrhoea and headaches or even a kidney injury.
- Allergic reactions could be caused by medications such as penicillin. A healthcare professional may be at fault if they were aware of the allergy.
- Severe side effects that the patient did not expect and was not warned about.
Depending on the original prescription, the patient’s condition, and the medication dispensed, prescription errors could impact a patient’s physical and/ or mental health in different ways. Taking an incorrect medication, being given an overdose or having too little could all seriously impact your health. In some instances, such errors may even be life-threatening.
Any of these impacts on your health could also affect you financially. You may have had to take time off work to recover from harm caused by getting the wrong medication or incorrect dose.
Please contact us to learn more about how prescription error claims work.
Compensation In Prescription Error Claims
Payouts for successful prescription error claims may be made up of two heads of loss. These are called general damages and special damages.
The first of these types of damages (general damages) are awarded based on the pain and suffering (harm) the patient experiences. Those involved in calculating how much compensation a patient is owed may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
The JCG is a resource setting out guideline compensation brackets for different forms of harm. It may be used in conjunction with other resources, such as your medical records.
Entries in the following list (except the first) come from the JCG. Please only use this list for guidance.
- Multiple forms of harm, such as caused by side effects. With special damages, up to £1,000,000+.
- Very severe brain damage (A). Such as that leaving the person with little to no meaningful response to environmental stimulus. £344,150 to £493,000.
- Kidney damage (A). Permanent and serious damage or the loss of both of the kidneys. £206,730 to £256,780.
- Bowels (A). Cases where the person is left with loss of natural bowel and bladder function. Up to £224,790.
- Bladder (A). Cases where the person has lost natural bladder and bowel function. Up to £224,790.
- Male reproductive system (D). Sterility without impotence and with no aggravating factors. £68,430 to £87,080.
- Female reproductive system (C). Infertility where there are no aggravating features. £68,440 to £87,070.
- Digestive system harm (B) (i). May include toxicosis with pain, vomiting and fever. £46,900 to £64,070.
- Moderate post-traumatic stress disorder. The person could largely have recovered. £9,980 to £28,250.
- Spleen (A). Where the organ is lost and there is the risk of an internal infection. £25,380 to £32,090.
These figures should only be taken as a guideline and your medication error compensation claim settlement may differ from these.
Special Damages In Medical Negligence Claims
As well as the damages set out above, prescription error claims could also be awarded special damages. Such damages take financial losses caused by the harm you suffered into account.
Examples of what may be included in a clinical negligence claim are:
- Loss of earnings – this includes lost earnings and related income.
- Medical expenses – such as the cost of treatment, medical services and further prescription medication.
- Travel costs – such as travelling to and from hospital.
- Care costs – such as the cost of domestic care and support in the home.
This is not an exhaustive list of financial losses you could claim compensation for. In order for your prescription error compensation claim to take financial losses into consideration you must provide evidence of such losses. This may include a copy of your bank statements, pay slips or invoices.
Please contact our team for an assessment of how wrong patients and other medication errors may be valued.
Chat With Us Today
Why Should I Claim Medical Negligence Compensation?
If you have suffered harm due to medical negligence, such as a prescription error, you may consider claiming compensation. Claiming compensation allows you to be compensated for your pain and suffering as well as any financial losses related to them.
Doing so can also help to hold the individual or organisation to account for what has happened to you. It may help to provide you with a sense of justice and could additionally help to prevent similar instances from occurring in the future.
To claim compensation you will need to collect evidence which shows that the other party caused you harm when dispensing, administering or prescribing medication. Evidence which could help your prove your case may include;
- A copy of your medical records.
- Any medication you still have as well as the containers and any instructions provided.
- Expert evidence from an independent medical assessment. You may be asked to visit an independent medical professional who could assess how you were harmed. This helps to create additional medical evidence.
- Contact details of anyone witness to the prescription error taking place.
- Details and proof of any subsequent medical expenses you have had to meet.
Please contact our team to learn more about how to prove a medical negligence claim.
How Can Advice Help Me With A Prescription Error Claim?
If you meet the criteria set out in our guide to prescription error claims, our team could help you. Our solicitors have expertise in a wide variety of different types of medical negligence claims. They could guide you through the claims process and help you get the best resolution to your case.
Whilst you do not have to claim compensation using a solicitor, we believe that there are a plethora of benefits to doing so. For example, a solicitor can explain how the prescription error claims process works, explain complex terminology and ensure that you include financial losses in your claim.
As our team understands that upfront fees can prevent people from being able to claim, the solicitors here at Advice are able to help people on a No Win No Fee basis.
Using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), you can start your claim without the need to make any upfront or advance payments for their work. You would also not need to make any ongoing payments towards their solicitor’s fees.
Instead, if you are awarded compensation, you will pay a success fee. This fee would be deducted from your compensation, and the percentage which may be taken is limited by law.
Get In Touch Today
Get in touch today to find out how one of our medical negligence solicitors could help you.
- Call us on 0161 509 2856.
- Contact us online below.
- Use our live chat to talk to our team.
More Information
Below you can find out more about how to claim compensation.
- If you have been harmed by a methotrexate prescription error, you can learn more about claiming compensation here.
- Learn if you could claim compensation for poor care in a hospital.
- Here, we look at claiming compensation for an operation gone wrong.
References
- Check how to view your GP health record in this NHS guide.
- Learn more about the NHS Constitution for England in this government guide.
- You can report concerns about prescriptions to the General Pharmaceutical Council, the UK regulator for pharmacies, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve included a few frequently asked questions and answers on prescription error claims for you here. Still have questions? Talk to our advisors today.
Can I Make A Prescription Error Claim?
Yes, you can make a prescription error claim if you can prove that you were avoidably harmed because a healthcare professional failed to meet the minimum care standards expected of them.
What Is The Medical Negligence Claims Time Limit?
The medical negligence claims time limit for beginning the process of seeking prescription error compensation is usually 3 years from the date the incident occurred. However, these 3 years can also be counted from when you became aware of the negligence (the date of knowledge).
Who Is Responsible For A Prescription Error?
Depending on the circumstance, your GP, the prescribing doctor, nurse, or the dispensing pharmacist could all be responsible for a prescription error.
How Long Does A Prescription Error Claim Typically Take?
A prescription error typically takes 12 to 18 months to be settled, but this timeframe may vary depending on the availability of evidence and whether the defendant admits liability.
We hope our guide to prescription error claims has helped you learn more about how and when a solicitor could help you. For more information or to begin a claim, please contact us today.
