According to a study done by Consumer Reports, over 1.5 million people are injured by prescription errors per year. Of those errors, estimates show that about 400,000 occur in hospitals and are preventable; over 500,000 occur in outpatient clinics and with Medicare recipients. Several factors contribute to prescription errors:
- Poor pronunciation
- Poor handwriting
- Incorrect/look-alike labels
Other Causes of Medication Errors
Some prescription mistakes may be due to the lack of an accompanying medication guide. According to the Consumer Reports Study, 80% of pharmacies filling a warfarin prescription did not include an instruction leaflet. These guides are important, because they instruct consumers on the drug’s proper usage, and warn of drug interactions.
Preventing Medicine Mistakes
Doctors and pharmacists are required by law to inform patients of drugs’ risks and side effects, but they can’t do their job if they do not know what medicines you are taking. Periodically, you should take all of your medicines (including supplements and OTC drugs) to your doctor. The physician will review your medicines for those that may no longer be necessary, those that can be decreased in dosage, duplicates and interacting drugs. Follow these tips to ensure that you take the right medicine for the right medical condition.
- Read the label: Especially with new prescriptions, you should ensure that you can read what’s on the paper. If you can’t read it, your pharmacist may not be able to either. If that’s the case, ask your doctor to print more legibly, or to type the information.
- Know the medicine’s purpose: Ask your physician what the medication is for, and about potential side effects.
- Only go to one pharmacy: Pharmacies catch many errors by referring to their database every time you fill a prescription.
- Check your medicines when you receive them: Be sure the label matches what your doctor ordered, and check the color, size and shape of the medicine.
If you or a family member has been harmed by a medication or prescription mistake, contact a prescription errors attorney in Lafayette, IN. Consultations are free, and if your case is accepted, the lawyer will work with you to help you get the damages you deserve and to ensure that the error doesn’t happen again.
