How do mistakes in medication dispensing happen? Several missteps may occur between the time the doctor reviews your prescription options and the medication’s absorption into your system.
Discover how prescriptions may make you sicker through a series of often avoidable mistakes.
The doctor or pharmacist does not review prescription records
One of the considerations a physician must have in prescribing medicine is what other prescriptions you are currently taking. Drugs may interact with each other and cause side effects that may become life-threatening. If a doctor does not thoroughly review your medical history and current medication, an adverse reaction may occur.
Part of a pharmacist’s training is also recognizing when two prescription medications do not go well together. This two-prong verification helps to stop drug interactions from happening. However, this, too, may fail and lead to disaster.
Physicians and pharmacists should also explain to you if there are any reactions a prescription may have with over-the-counter medications.
The nursing staff does not understand the directions
The charting system is in place to ensure that any nurse or hospital staff member understands what is going on with your health and condition. When a doctor prescribes a medication, it goes in your chart. If a charting mistake happens or the notation is illegible, the nurse dispensing the drug may do so in error. Perhaps you have an allergy that a doctor overlooked, or the dosage is incorrect. In these cases, the mistake may become deadly.
When the error falls into the negligence category, the medical personnel associated with the lapse may find themselves liable for the damages.
Ms. Olsen has practiced law since 1992. During her law school education and throughout career she knew, if it is not about people, she is not interested. Everything about people interests Ms. Olsen from the simple details of living to the most profound. She began her law career in a skyscraper in downtown Miami representing corporate interests. Within a VERY short time, Pam knew that side of the things in the world was not for her.
