Modern medicine has given us all kinds of medications to treat illnesses—but there’s a catch. If you accidentally take the wrong medication, it can make you sicker. This is a particularly important concern for Texas daycare centers, where illnesses spread quickly, children have individual health conditions, and the administering of medications is a common practice. It is critical that children are given the correct medicine and the correct dose.
Our Texas daycare injury lawyers have received an uptick in phone calls from parents concerned about daycare medication errors. These dangerous incidents are likely to happen when caregivers are distracted or overwhelmed with classroom duties, or when child-to-caregiver ratios are exceeded due to increased childcare demands and staffing shortages.
Medication errors are easily preventable, and our Texas daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm explain the legal options parents may pursue if their child was improperly medicated at a childcare facility.
What Do Texas Daycare Laws Say About Giving Children Medication in Childcare Facilities?
The state of Texas has strict laws to protect children from being improperly medicated at a daycare center. The minimum standards require a childcare facility to get permission from a parent before giving a child any type of over-the-counter pain reliever or medicine prescribed by the child’s doctor.
Parents can give a daycare center permission to administer any medication in one of the following ways:
- An electronic format like DocuSign or a PDF file that is capable of being viewed and saved.
- Handwritten authorization that is signed and dated.
- Verbal consent via a telephone call, permitting a worker at the daycare center to administer a single dose of medication.
The first two parental permissions at a Texas daycare center only last one year. In an emergency situation where a child’s life is at risk, such as a severe allergic reaction, preauthorization is not required as long as the medicine is given to the child for its intended purpose.
Once a daycare center in Texas has permission to give medication to a child, caregivers must record the following information after each dose:
- Child’s full name
- Name of the medication
- Date, time, and amount of medication that was given
- Name of employee who administered the medication
Recording this important information is an easy way for caregivers to double-check that a child receives the right medication and the correct dosage stated on the label. Texas daycare centers are then required to keep these records at the facility for at least three months.
What Happens When Children Are Given the Wrong Dose or Incorrect Medication at a Daycare Center?
Medication errors can be extremely dangerous. In one year, poisonings caused by medication led 235 children in Texas daycare centers to be hospitalized, according to a report from the Texas Department of Human and Health Services. Little ones can experience medical emergencies such as:
- Brain injuries
- Cardiac arrest
- Organ failure
Sadly, medication errors, particularly instances when children are given too much of a medicine, can result in fatalities. In fact, the most common medication that can cause a deadly overdose is Benadryl—55% of children killed from medication overdoses were given Benadryl and drugs like it, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
What Are My Legal Options After a Texas Daycare Center Made a Medication Error?
If a Texas daycare center makes a medication error by giving a child the wrong medication or the incorrect dosage, parents and legal guardians have the right to file a lawsuit to hold the daycare and relevant caregivers accountable for negligence. Filing a lawsuit holds the facility accountable for breaching its duty to keep your child safe and allows parents to seek compensation, also known as damages.
Texas families may be compensated for the following damages in a daycare medication error case:
- Emotional distress
- Medical expenses, including a child’s ongoing or future medical treatments and therapy
- Pain and suffering
If the unspeakable happens and your child passes away because of a medication error at a daycare center, our legal time will fight to help get justice for your family in a wrongful death of a child lawsuit. This legal action aims to hold the daycare center accountable for your child’s preventable death.
This video explains more about the process of filing a daycare injury lawsuit. Other frequently asked questions about taking legal action against a daycare center are addressed in our FAQ section found here.
Is There a Time Limit for Taking Legal Action Against My Child’s Daycare Center After a Medication Error?
The statute of limitations, or time limit, to file a lawsuit against a daycare center in Texas is two years from the date of the medication error. Our daycare injury lawyers recommend filing as soon as possible because it helps gather evidence, such as medication logs that are required to be kept for three months, and identify various sources, including other caregivers at the facility whose memories of the incident are still fresh.
We Can Help Your Family After a Medication Mishap at a Daycare Center in Texas
Our team of experienced and compassionate daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm is dedicated to advocating for you and your family if a Texas childcare facility gave your child the wrong medication or an incorrect dose of an approved medicine. We are ready to listen and fight for your family to get justice and move forward. Our attorneys at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Get a free case evaluation by calling us at 214-699-4409, emailing us at [email protected], or filling out a contact form.
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