Medication Errors: Cut Your Risk With these Tips

Medication errors can be avoided. Asking inquiries and being well-informed about the medications you take are your best defenses.

Prescription, dispensing, and administration errors are all examples of medicine errors. Every year in the United States, they hurt hundreds of thousands of individuals. However, the majority of drug errors can be avoided. What can you do to safeguard yourself and your loved ones?

Taking an active role in your health care is one of the best strategies to lower your chance of a drug error. Learn everything you can about the online medicine delivery app for the medications you’re taking, including any potential negative effects. Never be afraid to ask your doctor, pharmacist, or other health care providers questions or express concerns.

What are pharmaceutical errors, exactly?

Medication mistakes are incidents that can be avoided if drugs are used incorrectly. Preventable adverse drug events are medication errors that cause harm. A potential adverse drug event occurs when a pharmaceutical error occurs but no one is harmed.

Taking an over-the-counter product containing acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) from an online medicine delivery app when you’re already taking a prescription pain reliever that has this precise chemical is an example of a pharmaceutical error. This oversight could result in you taking more acetaminophen than is suggested, putting your liver in danger.

Taking fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), a depression medication, with sumatriptan, a migraine medication, is another example of a probable medication error (Imitrex). Both medications have an effect on serotonin levels in the brain. When used simultaneously, they can cause serotonin syndrome, a potentially fatal illness. Confusion, excitement, rapid heartbeat, and raised body temperature are among the symptoms of harmful medication interaction.

What causes pharmaceutical errors?

Medication errors can occur everywhere, including at home, the doctor’s office, the hospital, the drugstore, and a senior living facility. Because children require different medicine amounts than adults, they are especially vulnerable to medication errors.

Knowing what you’re up against will allow you to take precautions. The following are the most typical causes of pharmaceutical errors:

• Your doctors’ lack of communication
• You and your doctors aren’t communicating well.
• Drug names that sound the same and medications that look the same are two examples of drug names that are similar.
• Abbreviations used in medicine

Learn how to avoid medication mishaps.

Your best defense is knowledge. If something your doctor says doesn’t make sense to you, ask for an explanation. Make sure you know the answers to these questions before starting a new medication:

• What is the medication’s brand or generic name?
• What is the purpose of the medication? When will I be able to see the results?
• What is the recommended dosage? I’m not sure how long I should take it.
• What should I do if I forget to take a dose?
• What should I do if I consume more than the prescribed dose by accident?
• Is there anything I should avoid while taking this medicine, such as meals, drinks, other medications, or activities?
• What are the possible negative consequences of an online medicine delivery app? What should I do if this happens to me?
• Will this new drug interact with any of my existing medications? If so, how would you go about doing it?

Instead of handwriting a prescription, your doctor can assist prevent drug errors by entering and printing (or digitally sending) the information on a computer. Make sure you choose a credible online medicine delivery app to get your medications delivered right at your doorstep.