Medication errors can occur because of negligence in a hospital, clinic, or pharmacy. However, there are also many cases in which patients suffer serious outcomes from medication errors that they have made on their own. It is important to be aware of these errors to avoid the chance of overdose or other serious complications.
Medication errors can occur because of negligence in a hospital, clinic, or pharmacy. However, there are also many cases in which patients suffer serious outcomes from medication errors that they have made on their own. It is important to be aware of these errors to avoid the chance of overdose or other serious complications.
The elderly are particularly at risk for making medication errors because they often manage numerous prescriptions. Each medication can increase the risks for mistakes. The information page that is typically provided by a pharmacy for a medication is an educational tool meant to inform a patient of timing, food interactions, environmental situations to avoid and other potential complications. Patients should review these to avoid serious problems. For example, measuring errors are quite common. Although a spoon from the kitchen might seem acceptable, it is important to use the measuring utensil provided with a prescription to ensure that precision is achieved in dosing with liquid medications.
Pill splitting can be an effective way to save money on some medications. However, there are extended release drugs that are not suitable for splitting. Doing so could lead to overdose or inefficient management of one’s symptoms. It is also important to avoid taking unnecessary medications. An example of such a situation is requesting antibiotics for a viral condition. Some providers are willing to prescribe antibiotics when they are not likely to help.
When a medication error occurs because of medical negligence, a patient might think about filing a malpractice claim. A patient who has suffered a serious injury, for example, might have grounds for pursuing damages. Examples might include cases in which serious allergic reaction has occurred because of a caregiver’s failure to pay attention to a patient’s allergy record.
