When you make a trip to your local pharmacy, probably the last thing on your mind is if that pharmacy will make an error in filling your prescription. You just want to get your prescription filled and hopefully be feeling better soon.
However, pharmacies do make medication errors. Sometimes, those errors can have serious consequences. You could suffer a stroke from taking the wrong medication or you may need to be hospitalized because you develop another illness. Unfortunately, between 7,000 to 9,000 people die each year because of prescription errors in the United States.
Five of the most common pharmacy errors include:
- Dispensing the wrong medication.
- Dispensing the correct medication, but at the wrong dosage.
- Making a clerical error or reading a doctor’s prescription order incorrectly, which results in giving a patient the wrong medication or an improper dosage.
- Failing to realize dangerous complications from a patient using multiple medications at the same time.
- Failing to warn patients of dangerous side effects of their prescribed medications.
Often, pharmacies are busy, with employees working long hours. Making a mistake with a patient’s medication is more likely as a result.
So, patients should check their medications and dosage amounts of their prescription medications. You want to ensure you received the correct amount. You also want to keep your doctor updated on all the medications you are taking, to reduce the chances of your doctor prescribing a medication that could have adverse effects when combined with another drug you are taking.
Finally, if you suffer adverse effects because of a possible prescription error, you need to get medical help right away. If you suffer serious medical complications because of a pharmacy error, you may need to consult a personal injury attorney. You shouldn’t have to suffer, financially, medically and emotionally, because of someone else’s mistake.
