My question involves medical malpractice in the state of NJ

I have a 24 month old niece who recently went in for her two-year check up. The doctor noticed a very small rash on the back of her neck and wrote a prescription for an ointment to get rid of it. Parents filled the prescription and applied it to my niece over the last week. She got a lot worse, the rash has spread throughout her entire body and she has been crying every time the parents applied it. They didn't know what was wrong but they kept applying it per the doctor's order until they could see him again. The doctor had unfortunately been on vacation for a bit and when he got back (today), they went to see him and when they showed him the tube of the medicine we applied, he told the parents that it wasn't what he prescribed. It was in fact an extremely potent acne medication (Defferin). Parents went to the pharmacy where we filled the prescription and got a copy of their record. The pharmacy admitted their mistake but did not say anything else. The doctor stated that even if he had prescribed that medication that the pharmacy should have called him first to ask why he was prescribing acne medication to a 2-year-old.

Parents took multiple pictures of my niece's rash (which is all over her back and chest), they have copies of all the prescriptions, the pharmacy has admitted their mistake, the tube itself with medication still in it, and they have a doctor who'll testify. Plus, i spent a little time just now researching the drug (brand name Defferin, drug name Adapalene), and found that is is indeed very potent and it is meant to penetrate deep into the hair follicle. Common side effects include: irritation, redness, dryness, itching, burning, stinging, increased risk of sunburn, and scaling. Furthermore, it should not be applied on rashes but none of this is stated on the tube itself.

I was wondering exactly how strong of a case we have and how much we could possibly be looking at in return.

Sounds like you have a negligence claim against the pharmacy. They breached a duty to the patient (child). So, what is it worth? What was the harm to the child and the guardian/parents?

Was the child damaged physically, other than skin irritation?

What state did this happen in and did they reside in that state?

If you want you can email/call me to discuss further. I maybe able to help you file a claim.

Speaking of prescription malpractice, Walgreen just lost another case for prescription error in which a wrong prescription killed a 46yr old man.

See link below
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3809406&page=1

There are a handful of these extreme cases that happen each year. 20/20 or Dateline did a whole expose on this issue. It turns out that these pharmacists are pushed to fill so many prescriptions in such a short time, that more and more mistakes are happening each year. They apparently forego some of the usual double checks that are required to keep their quota numbers up.

With all your information, you have a strong case against the erring pharmacy. Do confer with a trial lawyer who have handled cases of this sort. At most, you can look at your case positively in light of your strong and viable case.