Medication Errors
According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, as many as 7,000 people die each year in the U.S. as a result of medication errors or incorrect prescriptions. Federal law states that pharmacists and medical professions have a responsibility to their patients to practice within the standard of care set by their profession. It is a standard that establishes procedures for ensuring that pharmacists fill, compound, dispense and label prescriptions correctly. When that standard of care is not met, people get hurt.
The attorneys at Chalik & Chalik Law Offices understand that healthcare consumers pay the ultimate price for medication errors by healthcare providers. Millions of mistakes made yearly in the prescription and dispensation of drugs are causing monumental numbers of injuries and deaths, and costing billions of dollars.
According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, a medication error is “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer…related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use."
In a study by the FDA that evaluated reports of fatal medication errors from 1993 to 1998, the most common error involving medications was related to administration of an improper dose of medicine, accounting for 41% of fatal medication errors. Giving the wrong drug and using the wrong route of administration each accounted for 16% of the errors. Almost half of the fatal medication errors occurred in people over the age of 60. Older people may be at greatest risk for medication errors because they often take multiple prescription medications.
A report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in a study
paid for by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
concluded that 1.5 million Americans are sickened, injured
or killed, each year, by errors in prescribing, dispensing
and taking medications. The IOM also found that drug errors
are dangerous, often injurious or lethal, and very costly.
The estimated annual cost of drug errors and medication
mistakes was over $3.5 billion.
The report found that fully 25 percent of the injuries
caused by medication errors were clearly preventable.
A 17-member expert panel whose findings were part of the
report concluded that a significant number of medication
errors could be avoided if physicians took to prescribing
drugs electronically, if hospitals standardized medication
use and dispensation with a bar-code system, and if patients
made more of an effort to know about the risks of the drugs
they take. The Institute of Medicine found that the problem
is severe and requires immediate action. The report also
disclosed that health care providers have lagged behind in
the needed investment of time and money required to reduce
or eliminate medication errors.
To help prevent medication errors, be sure to ask your
doctor to tell you the name of the drug, the correct dosage
and what the drug is used for. Be sure you understand the
directions for any medications you may be taking including
the correct dosage, storage requirements and any special
instructions. In the hospital, ask (or have a relative or
friend ask) the name and purpose of each drug you are given.
Be sure to tell your doctor the names of all the
prescription and non-prescription drugs, dietary
supplements, and herbal preparations you are taking every
time he or she writes you a new prescription. This will help
to prevent another type of medication problem - undesirable
and potentially serious interactions among medications.
Finally, never be afraid to ask questions.
Thousands of physicians have been disciplined for incompetence, misconduct or negligent behavior. You can help protect your family and others in the community from careless medical malpractice by hiring Chalik & Chalik Law Offices to hold these medical professionals accountable.
If you or someone you love was injured due to medication errors, you need a medication error lawyer at Chalik & Chalik to investigate and prove your claim. Contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Chalik & Chalik for your complimentary legal consultation.
