Medication errors can have a negative and lasting impact on a patient’s health and wellness. Typically referred to adverse drug events (ADE), an ADE occurs when a patient is exposed to a medication and is harmed from that exposure. Not all ADE’s occur because healthcare providers were negligent in their duties to prescribe or distribute medication. However, in many cases, a patient was harmed because a patient consumed the wrong type or incorrect dosage of a prescribed medication.
Even though millions of Americans take some form of prescribed medication annually, a medication error is alarming and can have dramatic consequences for patients. According to a recent study conducted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information:
A medication error can be much more complicated than providing a patient with the wrong prescription. Because medication development, manufacture, and distribution can be incredibly complex–issues may arise during every process step. A medication error can include the following situations.
Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has crafted a gauntlet of federal regulations for developing and manufacturing modern medication, issues may arise with a particular medication that is out of a medical provider’s control. For example, medication errors can occur when a particular drug has not been appropriately manufactured or the packaging containing the drug has been contaminated. Further, some medications may be mislabeled and not indicate a valid expiration date.
Physicians spend years acquiring the necessary medical training to identify illnesses and treat patients with proper medication. However, physicians may also make a mistake and prescribe incorrect medication. This can cause adverse side effects that hurt the patient’s health. Sometimes, prescribing the wrong medication can permanently damage the patient, causing additional medical treatment.
Physicians may take a liberal attitude with prescribing certain medications without considering certain patient risk factors. Physicians should always account for their patients’ age, weight, and prior medical conditions, specific susceptibility to liver and kidney failure.
Not only are physicians required to prescribe the correct medication to treat a patient’s ailments or conditions, but they must also prescribe the proper dosage. By prescribing the wrong dosage, a physician risks providing their patient with an ineffective amount of medication—allowing an ailment to persist as under-treated or harming the patient by prescribing too much medication.
In some instances, physicians have made mistakes simply by writing out prescriptions with illegible handwriting or making a typo when writing out the prescription. This can cause a pharmacy to enter the prescription incorrectly and issue the wrong type or dose of medication. However, the increasing use of e-mail and online programs like My Chart occurs less frequently.
Pharmacies are not perfect and sometimes enter prescriptions incorrectly. Simple human error can cause the wrong type of medication or incorrect dose of the proper medication to be issued to a patient. This has significant consequences and makes the pharmacy liable for the patient’s medical damages.
Treating physicians have an ethical duty to maintain a relationship with their patients after prescribing medication. Although a physician cannot force a patient to schedule periodic check-ups, it is their responsibility to provide clarification and an opportunity for appointments to track and monitor a patient’s medication use. In addition, medical conditions change over time, and some patients may need to switch medications to treat a medical condition or change the dosage.
Sometimes, a patient may consume an incorrect dose of medication or continue taking it after their doctor has advised them to stop. In these instances, doctors must effectively communicate with their patients and maintain open communication with the patient and their immediate family or caregivers to ensure proper medication management.
Because medication management requires multiple parties, it may be challenging to identify the liable party. However, below is a list of familiar parties that may be responsible for medication errors:
Although the patient and medical personnel cannot avoid some medication errors if medication is defective upon delivery to a medical facility or pharmacy, however, patients can still be mindful of common issues to prevent medication errors—especially those with high-risk factors for injury or illness:
A plaintiff seeking compensation for a medication error must prove that the defendant, which can be the prescribing physician, the pharmacy distributing the medication, or the manufacturer of the medication, was responsible for the error. Patients should always take their medicine as prescribed, retain all medical records, seek medical treatment when feeling unwell, and communicate issues with their healthcare providers. Although no medication error lawsuit is guaranteed to succeed, patients harmed or at risk of harm from a medication error can monitor their health, communicate issues, and maintain proper records to collect evidence and prepare for possible legal action.