Prescription Errors and Medical Malpractice

Just how common is it for your doctor to write you the wrong prescription? Whether you are prescribed a medication that is unsafe for use with your other medications or a dose that is too strong or too weak, the effects can be devastating.

It’s estimated that about 7,000 people die annually as a result of prescription errors. The error rates are much greater for children than adults and the cost to the country is estimated at around $77 billion a year. Clearly, it is a problem that needs to be addressed.

The errors can be as simple as a missing decimal point. For example, a missing decimal point could mean that 5 mg, rather than .5 mg of morphine are given to an infant. Or it can be a case of illegible handwriting on the prescription pad that causes a pharmacist to provide the patient with the wrong dose. Or the causes can be more complicated because some patients, particularly elderly or very ill patients, are under the care of several doctors and are taking several medications. If all of the doctors don’t know all of the medications and their dosages they may prescribe medications that are incompatible with each other.

Whatever the reasons, the effect is the same and often discomfort, pain, serious illness, or even death. For those reasons, many doctors, hospitals and pharmacists are using computer-based prescription programs that minimize the risk of prescription errors.

As the patient, or an advocate of the patient, the best thing that you can do is clarify the prescription order with the physician who is prescribing it and again with the pharmacist to ensure that you will be taking the right medication and the right amount of that medication.