Medication Errors
Imagine yourself visiting your local health physician for a routine checkup. The process goes on without any issues, and then your health physician prescribes a specific medication. You take it hours later only to find out the drug is inappropriate for you. You are now feeling the adverse effects of the medical item you just took. It appears you might have to go back to the doctor’s office for another checkup. Such a scenario is not a rare occurrence. In fact, it happens in most hospitals and health clinics anywhere you go. These are known as medication errors.
There is a more definitive explanation for a medication error. It is any preventable instance causing physical and emotional harm to a patient. It happens to a person while under a health worker’s care. A medication error does not limit to prescribing the wrong kind of drug a patient should take. It includes the following:
Writing down false information in a patient’s records
Improper dosage
Prescribing an unauthorized drug
Omission of specific treatments
And so on
Several factors cause medication errors. Here are some of them:
Lack of communication between a health specialist and a patient
Poor communication between health colleagues
Physical similarities between drugs
Medication names that sound the same
Medical abbreviations
And so much more
A medication error can lead to a couple of harmful results for an individual’s body. Some of these errors might not be that harmful, but others can even lead to death. Check some of the other effects below:
Birth defects
Life-threatening conditions
Disability
Hospital confinement
Medication errors pick no time or place. They can occur during the most unsuspecting moment. But the neat thing is that you have a ton of options to avoid medication errors. We will get into them in the following segment.
The first thing you can do is inform yourself. You have all the possible media and information sources out there you can learn from overall.
Another method is to ask your doctor if something confuses you, such as medical terminology. It will go a long way to do so. Plus, you get to find out something new every time.
Find out all you can with a new medication. Learn about its proper dosage, ingredients, and so on.
Participate in medication reconciliation. It is the process where you and your health specialist compare medications they provide with the ones you are taking. Doing so reduces the risk of duplications, omissions, drug interactions, and many more.
You also have to share all your new and updated medical information with your health specialist. This concept allows them to adjust to what you might have to take in the coming days or weeks.
It is also paramount that you keep an up-to-date list of all the medications you might have. Do not forget to include any supplements and non-prescription drugs.
It might be challenging to make it happen, but try to stick to one pharmacy only.
You also have the option to save all the information documents and sheets that come with the medications.
But there might be a time when you cannot avoid a medication error. It might be too late, and you already have taken the wrong drug. You can discuss this matter with your health physician so you can take any steps to avoid complications. You can take legal action if it is not your health specialist who is responsible.
What happens is that you will contact and hire a medical malpractice lawyer. Take note that medication error falls under the numerous categories that make up medical malpractice. So you can play it safe as you file for a claim. Your lawyer will deal with all the legal aspects of your claim. They will do so for you to focus on recovering your health. In addition, you do not have to stress yourself out in searching for a medical malpractice lawyer. The internet offers thousands of websites that deal with such matters. Plus, you can get specific with your perusal. For example, try looking for the top medical malpractice lawyers in Baltimore. It is that easy.
There is no need to hesitate to ask about your medications. After all, it is health and wellness you are dealing with entirely. It would be a failure on your part to do what is must to keep yourself healthy and free from any medication complications. You have to keep in mind that you alone are your best weapon against these medical errors. But if you find yourself the victim of a medication error, you can take a couple of steps to move forward. You will either file for a medical malpractice claim. Or you can discuss things with your health specialist to figure out any possible treatments.