EWJ August 62 2025 web - Journal - Page 106
Medication Errors
by Mrs Sade Abiola MSc Clinical Pharmacy, Postgraduate Certificate in Psychiatric
Therapeutics (PGCert), MPharm, BSc(Hons) Biomedical Science with Pharmacology
My job as an expert witness has involved a variety of
cases. This includes dispensing errors, drug interaction
errors, employer disputes amongst others. I have had
to give evidence in court in front of a judge. I hold a
certificate from Cardiff University and I am working
towards completing another one with Aberdeen University. Additionally, I have completed training with
La Touche training to increase my awareness and
knowledge of the legal landscape in Ireland.
pharmacy, I’ve dealt with: dispensing errors, patient
counselling, and prescription screening, —areas often
central to litigation.
Example Court Case
In a case involving an employment dispute, I was
instructed to provide an expert opinion on the pharmacological interaction between a specific drug and
alcohol. This required me to give evidence under
cross-examination in court. I applied my clinical and
pharmacological expertise to evaluate the available information and offer a clear, objective opinion to assist
the court.
I have provided expert testimony in court (civil) on
cases involving: dispensing errors, drug interactions,
and employer disputes, ensuring complex clinical
concepts are presented clearly to judges and legal
teams. My collaborative work with multidisciplinary
professionals further enhances my ability to assess
cases holistically.
I was careful to remain within the scope of my
professional competence, clearly stating both my conclusions and the limitations of my evidence. Throughout the process, I focused on communicating complex
information in plain language, avoiding clinical
jargon to ensure the court could easily understand the
key points. My contribution helped the court contextualise the potential impact of the drug-alcohol
interaction on the individual's behaviour and decisionmaking capacity.
Example case ;
A 29 year old with a history of drug addiction who
died following an accidental overdose of prescribed
medication. He attended the GP surgery and saw one
of the defendant GPs who was a trainee GP. The other
defendant GP was his supervisor. Neither of them
noticed an alert on his records about his drug history.
This experience reinforced the importance of professional neutrality, the ability to communicate clearly
under pressure, and the need to remain grounded in
evidence-based practice. It also highlighted the
unique value pharmacists bring as expert witnesses,
particularly in cases where medicine use and its effects
are central to the legal issue
Oramorph was prescribed for back pain relief but
unfortunately the prescription did not include proper
instructions about the amount or frequency of the
dose. As a consequence the deceased took too much
oramorph and was found dead due to an accidental
overdose.
As a pharmacist expert witness, I bridge the gap
between pharmacy practice and the legal system, offering clear, authoritative insights into medication-related disputes. My work is driven by a deep fascination
with the legal dimensions of pharmacy, particularly
in cases involving clinical negligence, regulatory
compliance, and professional conduct.
Academically, I am a doctoral student investigating
pharmacist-carer interactions, which informs my
understanding of communication breakdowns in
medication errors.
Sade Abiola’s expert witness work covers;
• Preparing reports relating to drug interaction,
pharmaceutical negligence, prescribing errors and
toxic compounds within the body.
• Providing advice on drugs of misuse
• Interpreting forensic drug analytical data.
• Providing advice on the interaction of alcohol and
drugs and measuring rates of alcohol metabolism.
With extensive experience across: hospital, primary
care, and community pharmacy, I bring a
well-rounded perspective to legal cases. My hospital
background includes specialist expertise in: mental
health, frailty, and elderly medicine, while my primary
care work involved: optimising prescribing systems
and managing clinical services. In community
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
104
AUGUST/SEPT 2025
