Last Updated On 11th June 2025. If you have suffered harm by someone giving you the wrong medication you may be able to make a prescription error compensation claim. Doctors, GP’s, chemists and pharmacists all have a duty of care to ensure that they provide you with the correct prescription. Being given the wrong prescription could lead to a variety of issues.
Through this guide, we look at when and how you could claim compensation. Next, we move on to covering the evidence which could support your medical negligence claim. Then, we look at how your compensation may be calculated. Lastly, our guide shows the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
Please get in touch with our team if you have sustained harm by a prescription error to see if you meet the criteria to start a medical negligence claim. The team of Public Interest Lawyers advisors are on hand 24 hours a day to help answer your questions and offer you free advice:
- Call us now on 0800 408 7825.
- Click ‘contact us’ and complete our form.
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Browse Our Guide
- Can I Claim Prescription Error Compensation?
- How Could A Prescription Error Happen?
- What Evidence Could Help Me Claim For Prescription Errors?
- How Long To Start Prescription Error Claims?
- How Much Prescription Error Compensation Could I Receive?
- What Are No Win No Fee Prescription Error Claims?
- More Information About Claiming For Medical Negligence
Can I Claim Prescription Error Compensation?
All healthcare professionals have a duty of care. Per this duty of care, they must ensure that patients receive the minimum expected standard of care. This includes assessing any medication currently being taken before prescribing new medication, providing correct information on how medication should be taken and ensuring the correct dosage of medication is prescribed.
If a medical professional were to fail to provide this minimum standard of care, this could be classed as them breaching their duty of care.
To be able to make a prescription error compensation claim, you will need to prove:
- A healthcare professional owed a duty of care.
- This professional breached their duty of care.
- The breach caused you unnecessary harm.
Not all cases of prescription errors could lead to compensation. There may be instances where a medical professional adhered to their duty of care, but you still suffered harm.
Get in touch with our team to find out if you could sue a doctor for negligence.
How Could A Prescription Error Happen?
There are various ways that a prescription error could take place. Some examples include:
- Due to mislabelling, you are given the wrong medication at a pharmacy. This could lead to your condition worsening as it is left untreated, and you may also experience side effects due to taking the wrong medication.
- A pharmacist gives you the wrong dosage of your medication. You suffer side effects due to taking too much of this medication. In certain cases, this can also be fatal.
- A doctor prescribes medication that contains an ingredient you have a known allergen to. This causes you to suffer an allergic reaction.
- Your GP prescribes you new medication without assessing if this will interfere or react with the medication you are currently taking, causing you to become sick.
If harm has been caused by a medication error you could be eligible to claim compensation. Please get in touch with our team for further information.
What Evidence Could Help Me Claim For Prescription Errors?
You must be able to provide evidence that supports your case when making a prescription error compensation claim. Your evidence must show that a medical professional has breached their duty of care and this caused avoidable harm to you.
Examples of evidence you could collect could include:
- Your health record which will contain details of the condition you were diagnosed with and the medication prescribed.
- Medication containers and any remaining medication.
- The contact details of anyone who witnessed you being treated or your medication being dispensed.
- Copies of your prescription forms.
- A diary detailing your physical and psychological symptoms.
A medical negligence solicitor from our panel could help you collect evidence relevant to your compensation claim for prescription errors. Get advice on how to claim by contacting our team.
How Long To Start Prescription Error Claims?
3 years is how long you are given to start a claim for prescription error compensation. These 3 years can start running from:
- The date the prescription error occurred.
- The date of knowledge. What is meant by this is the date that you would have been reasonably expected to realise that negligence occurred.
Failure to start the medical negligence claims process within these 3 years can lead to the claim becoming statue-barred. All of these time limits are set out within the Limitation Act 1980. However, the Limitation Act does make exceptions for those unable to start the prescription error claims process themselves. These parties include:
- Those under the age of 18 because children cannot direct proceedings.
- Those without the mental capacity to direct proceedings.
For those under the age of 18 at the time of being given the wrong prescription, the time limit is put on hold until their 18th birthday. The time limit will then start on that date, giving them 3 years from their 18th birthday to begin a claim.
Those without the mental capacity to direct proceedings will have a suspension placed on this limitation period. This suspension can last indefinitely. However, should the harmed party recover the capacity needed to claim, the time limit will start running from that date. This gives them 3 years from the day in which it was deemed their capacity had recovered to begin proceedings.
Litigation Friends For Error With Prescription Claims
In either of these cases, a suitable adult, such as a parent or guardian, other relative, or solicitor, can apply to the court to be appointed as a litigation friend. The litigation friend will direct proceedings on behalf of the harmed party. This may involve:
- Discussing the claim for compensation for prescription errors with the harmed party’s solicitor.
- Making decisions in the party’s best interest.
- Keeping them informed (as best as possible) of the progress of the case.
- Finding out their wishes and feelings regarding the claim.
If you have any questions about the time limits involved in prescription error claims, or how to become a litigation friend, please direct them to a member of our advisory team.
How Much Prescription Error Compensation Could I Receive?
Successful prescription error claims will be awarded compensation. How much compensation you could receive will depend on the specific factors of your case. Factors that could affect how much you receive include:
- What harm you suffered.
- How severe your pain is.
- Your recovery period.
If you make a successful claim, general damages will be awarded to you. This compensates you for the unnecessary harm you suffered to a healthcare professional breaching their duty of care.
To calculate compensation for your suffering and pain, those responsible may look at the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). In the JCG you can find guideline compensation amounts which may be awarded for different injuries.
Below, we have listed some of these compensation guidelines. Please note, however, that the first entry does not come from the JCG.
| Harm | Severity | Damages |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious types of harm with special damages. | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain damage | Very severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Brain damage | Moderate (ii) | £110,720 to £183,190 |
| Brain damage | Less severe | £18,700 to £52,550 |
| Kidney | Serious permanent damage or loss of both kidneys | £206,730 to £256,780 |
| Significant risk of future UTI | Up to £78,080 | |
| One kidney is lost | £37,550 to £54,760 | |
| Bowel | Total loss of natural function | Up to £183,190 |
| Digestive System | Damage or Illness resulting from non-traumatic injury (i) | £46,900 to £64,070 |
| Bladder | Some Fairly Long-Term Interference With Function | £28,570 to £38,210 |
Special damages are also sometimes awarded in a successful claim. This is for the financial losses the medical negligence has caused you to experience.
Examples of what you could claim special damages for include:
- Loss of earnings if you needed time off to recover
- Medical expenses, such as having to pay for new medication
- Travel costs to essential medical appointments
You will need to prove these losses with documents such as wage slips and invoices.
Get in touch with our team for more information on how prescription error compensation claims may be calculated.
What Are No Win No Fee Prescription Error Claims?
Whether you are claiming compensation for an injury caused by an overdose or other medication error, one of the solicitors on our panel could help you. If clinical negligence has occurred, our advisors could help you.
One of our advisors will then assess your case. If they think it is valid, they will connect you to a solicitor from our panel who could help you on a No Win No Fee basis under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
By using a CFA, you could make a prescription error compensation claim without the need to make an upfront payment for their services. You also will not need to pay for their services if the claim fails.
However, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your compensation should your claim succeed. The success fee is a legally limited percentage.
For further information on how a No Win No Fee from our panel could help you with your compensation claim for prescription errors, you can contact our advisors:
- Phone an advisor on 0800 408 7825
- Complete our ‘contact us’ form.
- Talk to us on our live support feature.
More Information About Claiming For Medical Negligence
Additional medical negligence claims guides by us:
- Check how to claim for a sterilisation failure in this guide.
- Find out what you could claim for a misdiagnosis of oesophageal cancer in this guide.
- We look at how to claim compensation for a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen in this case study.
Further references.
- View information on reporting medicine related incidents in this resource from the Care Quality Commission.
- Information on reporting a patient safety incident can be found in this NHS resource.
- View guidance on prescribing medication in this guide from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Our advisory team can answer any further questions about prescription error compensation. They can also help you get a claim started and estimate how much compensation for prescription errors you could claim. Get in touch today.