After leaving the doctor’s office and having your condition examined in detail, you may go home feeling a bit of relief. You know that you have sought professional medical help and may feel confident in the medications prescribed to you. However, it is important to keep in mind that even after you leave the doctor’s office, you should remain aware of your conditions. In fact, research shows that pharmacists fill 10% of medications in error.
This can be extremely dangerous to patients for a number of reasons, such as:
- Mixing medications
- Incorrect medications
- Improper dosage of medications
- Failure to examine patients’ allergies to medications
Although these errors are usually avoidable. It is important to take a few tips in order to decrease the likelihood of medication errors.
Below is a list of things you can do, as a patient, to help safeguard your health when given medication from a pharmacist.
The Top Four Tips to Prevent Medication Errors
- Double-check the name of the medication and the intended use of each medication.
By doing this, you ensure your pharmacist is administering the correct medications specified for your medical conditions - Ask your pharmacist when you should take the medication.
You should know whether you are supposed to take your food on an empty stomach or after eating. Likewise, it is important to understand if it is crucial that you take your medication at the same time every day. - Tell your pharmacist about any other medications you may have been prescribed.
To avoid mixing medications with adverse effects, you should ask your pharmacist if it is safe to take a prescribed medication with another. This is important for those taking minor drugs such as Advil, Tylenol, cough medications, birth control, or others as well. - Ask your pharmacist about the ingredients in your prescription medication.
If you know you are allergic to certain substances, it is important to ask your pharmacists if the prescribed medication contains any amounts of those substances to avoid a harmful allergic reaction.
How a Washington, D.C. Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help
If you or a loved one has faced harm as the result of a medication error, it is important to seek legal representation right away. A seasoned Washington, D.C. medical malpractice attorney from The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson, M.D., J.D. & Associates may be able to help you and your family recover financial compensation for any physical harm, emotional distress, or medical expenses you may face as a result.
We do not take medication errors lightly, and neither should you. Your health is of our utmost concern. To discuss your case, contact our firm today!
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Dr. Michael M. Wilson is an attorney and a physician who earned his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his legal and medical degrees from Georgetown University. He has focused in the area of medical malpractice for more than three decades and secured more than $100 million in settlements and verdicts on behalf of clients throughout the country. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is listed in America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators.
