Scientific advances the past few decades have brought us wonderful medications that can drastically improve the lives of those patients taking them. However, simple mistakes in prescribing or administering such medications to patients have taken countless lives. Unfortunately, medication errors have been estimated to account for about one-quarter of all medical malpractice cases. Often, those medication errors turn out to be fatal.
There are many types of medication errors that can occur in the prescription, distribution, or administration of different types of drugs. These mistakes can be made by any medical professional, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists or pharmacy technicians.
Some types of medication errors include:
- Giving the wrong dose. A doctor may prescribe the wrong dosage, which could result in an underdose or an overdose. A nurse could fail to administer the correct dosage. Or, a pharmacist may fail to correctly fill or label the prescription, which could result in the wrong dose.
- Interactions among drugs. Sometimes, if a patient is taking more than one medication, those medications could interact with each other in a dangerous way. This could occur if a doctor failed to ask a patient if he or she was taking prescription drugs. Or pharmacists may fail to note that a patient was prescribed two drugs that could interact.
- Receiving the wrong drugs. This could happen in a variety of ways. A doctor may write down the wrong drug. A nurse could administer the wrong drug. A pharmacist could accidentally grab the wrong drug when filling a prescription.
- Failing to warn about a drug’s side effects. Many drugs come with very serious side effects, which could affect patients in dangerous ways.
Have you or a loved one been a victim of a medication error in Dallas that resulted in injury or death? If so, you may have a potential claim against a health care professional. Contact the medical malpractice attorneys at The Barber Law Firm. We will work hard on your case.
