The Wrong Meds – Pharmacists & Doctors Can Make Mistakes

More and more often people are prescribed a wide variety of powerful medications. These medical advancements have improved patient care, but it’s important to be aware of the risks. Prescription drugs can be incredibly dangerous. When taken in the wrong dosage or mixed incorrectly with other medications, life-saving drugs can quickly endanger your life.

When a hospital or pharmacy delivers an incorrect prescription, the results can be fatal. These errors generally happen in one of two places. The first is on the doctor’s side. Physicians write thousands of prescriptions a year. Statistics indicate that as many as 4 out of every 1,000 scripts are incorrect. Mistakes include:

• Incorrect dosage – If too much of a medication is taken, the drug’s side effects can be severe. At larger doses a drug is more likely to clash with other medications.
• Incorrect medication – Drug companies seem to give medications ridiculous names, many which sound similar even though the drugs are radically different. A doctor, who switches two meds based on the name, can cause the patient significant harm.
• Allergic Medication – Drug allergies are often life-threatening. One of the most egregious errors a medical professional can make is giving a patient meds he or she is allergic to.

Even when the doctor’s prescription is perfectly filled out, the pharmacy can still get it wrong. Pharmacy blunders to be aware of are:

• Wrong Patient – Double-check your medication to ensure that the prescription is in fact in your name. Busy pharmacists can hand over a completely different order.
• Right Patient Wrong Meds – A pharmacy may have filled the wrong prescription, but one that is accurately labeled. Check the name against what your doctor ordered.
• Mislabeled Meds – One of the most dangerous forms of pharmaceutical malpractice is where a drug is in your name and says it is the right drug at the right dosage, but in fact is a different entity all together. In these cases, particularly with medications that are new to the patient, it’s difficult for the patient to know that a mistake has been made until it is too late.

How Do I Stay Safe?

If you are allergic to any medication, make absolutely certain that you make your doctors and pharmacists aware of your allergy. Research the drug or drugs that you have had allergic reactions to in the past and remember that many drugs go by a variety of different names. A generic version of a prescription will most likely cause the same allergic reaction.

Other Safety Tips

• Make certain your doctor knows the full list of your medications. Even ones that seem unrelated to a current problem. Don’t forget that over-the-counter meds count, too. Sometimes even certain vitamins and diets can make a difference on how you will react to a drug.
• Check online to see what the pill literally looks like. If you know the pill is blue and shaped like a trapezoid, if someone hands you round green pill than you know the pharmacy has made a mistake.
• Use a well-respected pharmacy that fills all your prescriptions so they have an understanding of each drug that you are taking.
• When in doubt, ask. Don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor or pharmacist about a medication. The more you know, the less likely you are to fall victim to a medication mix-up.

Don’t Wait to Call

If you or a loved one has been the victim of a drug injury or prescription error which led to life alerting events, don’t wait to speak to a lawyer. The time to file a lawsuit can be limited in Texas, and once the deadline is passed there is little legal recourse. Don’t let the statute pass you by. Use an online form or phone to contact the Rasansky Law Firm, a well-respected Texas medical malpractice law firm. Our prescription drug attorneys are among the best in the nation and consultations are completely free.