Medication errors may become more likely when Florida hospitals face crowded emergency departments, staff vacations, complex patient needs, and frequent care handoffs. These pressures do not excuse unsafe care. They can create conditions in which prescribing, dispensing, administration, and monitoring mistakes are harder to detect.
Faiella & Gulden, P.A. helps patients and families determine whether a preventable medication injury may involve medical negligence. A review of medication orders, pharmacy records, nursing documentation, laboratory results, electronic audit trails, and hospital policies may show where the medication-safety process failed.
Elizabeth has represented plaintiffs in numerous jury trials since 1976. A member of the exclusive Inner Circle of Advocates, Elizabeth is a legal powerhouse who has been given numerous awards and honors--and she's not done yet. The son of a doctor and an attorney, Peter has a unique and in-depth understanding of all the complicated medical and legal issues involved in a malpractice claim. He has won many 7-figure verdicts for clients since joining his mother's firm in 2004. Allison C. McMillen is proud to be a second-generation plaintiffs’ attorney representing victims of medical malpractice, having practiced with her father, attorney Scott R. McMillen, for over a decade before joining the team at Faiella & Gulden, P.A.
Elizabeth H. Faiella
Peter J. "Tres" Gulden, III
Allison C. McMillen
Why Summer Hospital Traffic Can Place Medication Safety Under Pressure 
Florida hospitals remain active throughout the year, but summer can bring a distinct mix of patient needs. Central Florida residents and visitors may seek emergency care for heat illness, dehydration, boating injuries, pool accidents, infections, medication reactions, and worsening chronic conditions. Tropical storms and hurricanes may also disrupt transportation, staffing, pharmacy access, and continuity of care. The circumstances differ by hospital, location, and year.
Higher patient volume does not prove that a hospital acted negligently. Hospitals are expected to plan for foreseeable demand and maintain systems that protect patients during busy periods. Medication workflows may become more vulnerable when patient volume rises while available beds, nurses, pharmacists, technicians, or physicians remain limited.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality summarized a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis that found a pooled medication-error prevalence of 22 percent in emergency departments. Rates varied among the included studies, so the figure should not be treated as the error rate for any specific Florida hospital.
Research source:
https://psnet.ahrq.gov/issue/medication-errors-emergency-departments-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis-prevalence-and
How Medication Errors Happen in a Busy Hospital
Medication safety depends on a connected series of decisions and checks. An authorized provider must select the correct medication and dose. The order must be entered accurately. A pharmacist must review and dispense the medication. A nurse or other clinician must administer it to the correct patient, at the correct time, through the correct route. The care team must then monitor the patient for effectiveness, side effects, and dangerous reactions.
A failure at any stage can cause harm. Medication errors may include:
- Giving the wrong medication
- Administering the correct medication in the wrong dose
- Giving medication to the wrong patient
- Using the wrong route, such as intravenous administration instead of oral administration
- Failing to account for allergies or drug interactions
- Giving a medication too early, too late, or too often
- Misreading a decimal point, concentration, or unit of measurement
- Failing to adjust a dose for kidney function, liver function, age, or body weight
- Continuing a medication that should have been stopped
- Failing to monitor laboratory values after administering a high-risk medication
- Issuing an incorrect discharge prescription or incomplete medication instructions
Electronic prescribing, automated alerts, and barcode systems can reduce certain risks, but technology does not prevent every mistake. Alerts may be overridden, records may be incomplete, scanners may malfunction, or repeated warnings may contribute to alert fatigue.
Shannon McLin
Connie Ashley
Staff Vacations, Temporary Coverage, and Unfamiliar Workflows
Summer vacation schedules may cause hospitals to rely more heavily on float staff, temporary clinicians, newly trained employees, or personnel reassigned to unfamiliar units. These professionals may be qualified, but unfamiliarity with a unit’s routines can increase the need for clear communication, supervision, and verification.
A nurse temporarily assigned to a specialty floor may not regularly administer certain high-risk medications. A covering physician may not know why another clinician changed a patient’s medication earlier in the admission. A pharmacist handling an unusually high volume of orders may need to resolve several urgent requests at the same time.
Hospitals should use safeguards that match these risks. Adequate staffing, unit orientation, escalation procedures, pharmacy review, and independent double checks may be especially valuable when patient traffic rises.
Crowding Can Increase Interruptions and Communication Failures
Medication preparation requires sustained attention. Clinicians in a crowded emergency department or inpatient unit may be interrupted by alarms, urgent questions, incoming patients, telephone calls, family concerns, and changes in bed assignments.
A brief interruption can disrupt a multistep task. A nurse may begin preparing one patient’s medication and then respond to another room. A physician may start an order, respond to an emergency, and return without noticing an incorrect dosage field. A patient may move from the emergency department to an observation unit before the medication list has been reconciled.
Care handoffs create another risk point. Medication information may pass among emergency physicians, hospitalists, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, and discharge teams. Each transition creates an opportunity for an omission, duplication, or misunderstanding.
Learn more about hospital negligence:
https://faiellagulden.com/orlando-hospital-negligence-attorneys/
Learn more about medication-error claims:
https://faiellagulden.com/orlando-medication-error-attorneys/
Some Patients Face Greater Medication Risks
A busy hospital can be challenging for any patient, but certain patients require more individualized medication management.
Children often need weight-based dosing, which can make calculation and concentration errors especially dangerous. Older adults may take several prescriptions that interact with medications ordered during a hospital stay. Patients with kidney or liver impairment may need adjusted doses. People who are unconscious, confused, critically ill, or unable to communicate their medication history may need additional verification and support.
High-risk medications also demand close attention. Examples may include anticoagulants, insulin, opioids, sedatives, chemotherapy drugs, concentrated electrolytes, and certain heart medications. An ordering, administration, or monitoring failure involving one of these medications can cause severe injury.
Learn more about pediatric medication errors:
https://faiellagulden.com/orlando-pediatric-medication-error-lawyers/
When a Medication Error May Support a Medical Malpractice Claim
Not every medication error supports a medical malpractice claim. Florida law generally requires more than proof that a patient received the wrong medication or experienced an unexpected result.
Florida Statutes section 766.102 states that a claimant must prove that a healthcare provider breached the prevailing professional standard of care and that the breach proximately caused the injury. The existence of a medical injury alone does not create a presumption of negligence.
A medication-related claim may require evidence that:
- A healthcare provider or facility owed the patient a duty of care
- The medication care fell below the applicable professional standard
- The error caused or substantially contributed to an injury
- The patient experienced measurable damages
Causation may be disputed. A hospital or provider may argue that the patient’s underlying illness caused the harm. Medical experts may need to review the timing of each dose, laboratory changes, vital signs, symptoms, treatment decisions, and the patient’s condition before and after the suspected error.
Florida also requires a presuit investigation and notice process for many medical negligence claims. An attorney can identify potential defendants, obtain the relevant records, and determine whether qualified expert support is available before a lawsuit is filed.
Florida Statutes section 766.102:
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799%2F0766%2FSections%2F0766.102.html
Florida Statutes section 766.106:
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799%2F0766%2FSections%2F0766.106.html
Who May Be Responsible for a Hospital Medication Error
Responsibility depends on where the medication process failed. Potentially responsible parties may include:
- A physician or other authorized provider who ordered the wrong medication or dose
- A pharmacist who failed to identify a dangerous order, interaction, allergy, or dosage
- A nurse or other clinician who administered medication to the wrong patient or through the wrong route
- A hospital whose staffing, training, supervision, or medication-safety systems fell below the applicable standard
- A contractor responsible for pharmacy, staffing, or clinical services
- Multiple providers whose combined communication failures caused the injury
A hospital is not automatically responsible for every error that occurs within the facility. Employment relationships, agency questions, contractual arrangements, hospital policies, and the conduct of each provider must be reviewed.
An investigation may include electronic order histories, audit trails, medication-administration records, barcode scans, pharmacy verification notes, staffing schedules, incident reports, laboratory data, and discharge records.
Learn more about Florida medical malpractice claims:
https://faiellagulden.com/orlando-medical-malpractice-lawyers/
What You Can Do After a Suspected Medication Error
Your first priority is appropriate medical care. Ask the treating team what medication was given, why it was ordered, and whether you need more monitoring or treatment. Ask the team to confirm your allergies and current medications in the chart.
When possible, write down:
- The medication name and dose
- The time the medication was given
- The names or roles of the people involved
- The symptoms that appeared afterward
- The explanations provided by hospital staff
- Any transfers between units or facilities
- Follow-up care, medical expenses, and lost work
You may request copies of medical records, medication lists, discharge instructions, pharmacy records, and laboratory results. Preserve prescription bottles, written instructions, photographs, billing statements, and messages exchanged with providers.
Do not alter or discard records. Avoid posting detailed accusations or private medical information on social media before the facts have been reviewed.
Florida Medical Malpractice Deadlines Require Prompt Attention
Florida medical malpractice deadlines can be shorter and more complicated than many patients expect. Florida Statutes section 95.11 generally requires a medical malpractice action to be started within two years after the incident or within two years after the incident was discovered, or should have been discovered through due diligence. The statute also contains a four-year statute of repose and specific exceptions, including provisions involving fraud, concealment, intentional misrepresentation, and certain claims involving minors.
The correct deadline depends on the facts. Presuit requirements and tolling rules may also affect the calculation. Patients should not rely on a general article to determine the filing deadline for a specific case.
Florida Statutes section 95.11:
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099%2F0095%2FSections%2F0095.11.html
Read the firm’s article about Florida medical malpractice deadlines:
https://faiellagulden.com/blog/statute-of-limitations-for-medical-malpractice-in-florida-dont-miss-your-deadline/
Speak With a Florida Medication Error Attorney
A preventable medication injury can lead to additional treatment, lost income, lasting health problems, and uncertainty about what happened. Faiella & Gulden, P.A. represents patients and families in Orlando, Winter Park, Central Florida, and communities throughout the state in medical malpractice matters.
The firm can review the care timeline, request relevant records, consult qualified medical experts, and evaluate whether the evidence supports a claim.
Call (407) 470-1225 or visit:
https://faiellagulden.com/contact/
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Consult an attorney about your specific circumstances.
