pharmacy error

[Medic911]

My pharmacy filled my normal prescription with the wrong medication. It caused me some severe problems for about 6 days, but no apparant long-term damage, so no lawyer will take my case.

The pharmacy essentially admitted the error, and told me to call poison control, who then instructed me to go the the E.R..

I was officially dignosed with "poisoning due to medication error", and the name of the medication they gave me is very, very similar to the name of what I SHOULD have been taking.. but it's actions are very different.

I suffered for a week with nosebleeds, severe ringing in my ears and (temporary) loss of hearing, and severe G.I. upset and pain... yet no lawyer will touch the case due to the lack of long-term damages.

I considered going through small-claims court, and just trying for $3000 (the Missouri limit). Is there a relatively easy way to negotiate a settlement without a lawyer?

Any suggestions? Help!
(Incidentally, the pharmacy made a very similar error 6 months ago, but luckily we caught it that time. This was the final straw for us though)
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[vrzirn]

The first time should have been sufficient experience for you to read label before popping your pills.It appears you kept eating them for 6 days before realizing they were wrong medication. Well, you are all better now so be careful in the future. No case.

 

[Medic911]

Uh.. I DID read the label.

The label read correctly.

The pills contained within were the wrong pills. (i.e. did not match the rx identified on the label).

As for going back to the same pharmacy, I had no choice... I work for a hospital-based ambulance service, and our insurance is with a particular pharmacy.

(incidentally, there very well may BE long-term damage.. there's just no way to establish it. See, I've got an underlying liver duct disorder which makes my liver very susceptible to damage. That's why I take the medication in the first place. )

 

[vrzirn]

This was apparently a refill. Did they look just like the previous pills? There is a major difference between "may be" and "is" regarding permanent injury.