Prescription
Medications
/
Medical
Errors
As only a few states in the U.S. require pharmacies to track medication errors so no one really knows how prevalent this problem is. However, it is conservatively estimated that there are some 1.5 million medication errors a year, making it one of the most common forms of medical errors. Studies suggest that some 400,000 preventable drug related injuries occur each year in hospitals and another 800,000 occur in long term care facilities.
Common types of medication include:
- prescribing or filling the wrong dosage or type medication;
- not taking into account a patient’s drug allergies;
- not considering other medications a patient may be on which may interact with the prescribed medication; and
- not closely monitoring a patient on narcotics to prevent addiction
- not informing the patient of potential side effects
Some chain pharmacies set very high goals for their pharmacists in filling prescriptions, thus contributing to the problem. For example Walgreens required their pharmacists to fill some 350 prescriptions a shift. Such high volume can contribute to medication errors.
There are things that consumers can do to reduce the likelihood that they will be harmed through a medication error. Maintain good communications with your doctor. Discuss the medication he is prescribing, its dosage and potential side effects. Tell the doctor what medications you are on and ask if there any problems taking the prescribed medication with your current medications. Ask the doctor what the pill looks like and if there is a generic, whether it might look differently. Verfiy the dosage and type of medication with your pharmacist who can also check interactions with other medications.
For some common types of adverse drug interactions,
check out this page.
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