Medical malpractices have significantly increased in the modern world, with drug prescription errors among the top. Personal injury attorneys are constantly dealing with this nightmare of doctors and pharmacists dispensing the wrong medicine, resulting in injury or death. Unfortunately, many people only hear about this medical malpractice but have little to no clue about its causes. Legal and health experts can explain this, but you should also research about improper prescription (Rx) drug mistakes. The information below will guide you on the top causes of drug prescription mistakes to paint a clear image of the subject. We delve into the medications, potential damages, and litigation that could arise.
Expired Medicines and Drugs
Not checking or ignoring a product’s expiry date is among the most common mistakes among many doctors, pharmacists, and medicine vendors. Some do it intentionally as a technique to clear their expired stock. However, others simply don’t check the expiration dates and sell expired products to unexpecting patients. Expiration of meds can result from poor product storage and manufacture.
Expired medicinal products have detrimental effects on the consumer’s general health, with some medicines causing severe injuries and deaths. One of the major concerns of the current generation is, does Tylenol cause autism along with potential liver damage. This question arises from patients who may have consumed such a drug after its expiry date, although this needs more clarification in medical studies.
Shorter or Longer Prescription Period
Doctors are humans, too, meaning they are not immune to mistakes when prescribing medicines to patients. There are chances of receiving a shorter or longer prescription period from such a health practitioner for whichever health condition you have. This means you will take such drugs for a longer or shorter period than required.
Different drugs have varying prescription periods, depending on a few factors. This may include the condition’s severity and the product’s strength. Taking your medication for a shorter period than required may not be as severe because you can always get more from your doctor to complete your dosage. Nonetheless, prolonged drug consumption may lead to overdosing, causing severe injuries and death.
Dispensing Allergens
Drugs and medicines should improve your health by treating illnesses, sicknesses, and conditions or helping you manage them. Different patients react differently to these products, some experiencing severe allergic reactions in their bodies. There are several reasons why a nurse or a pharmacist may administer drugs with allergens. However, the top reasons include poor communication with the patient, failure to leverage modern technology, and incorrect chart review. Allergic patients can experience severe allergies after consuming such a prescription.
Work Distractions
Health practitioners have a lot on their plates, including checking up on their patients, reviewing lab results, handling patient examinations, communicating with the patient’s health insurance providers, and explaining the situation to the patient’s family. All these tasks can be overwhelming and distractive, not forgetting that health professionals may also have to draft drug orders amid all these undertakings. The rush to accomplish all their roles may be a leading cause of drug prescriptions and ordering mistakes.
Improper Timing
Most Rx drugs require the patient to take the dose at the same time every day for full effectiveness. Depending on the doctor’s directives, others may need the patient to take their prescribed dose before or after meals. Keeping up with such tight schedules can be challenging to keep up with both in institutions and home care settings. Adhering to the scheduled times is vital in preventing under and overdosing, which can cause severe personal injuries. Fortunately, modern technological devices, such as your smartphone, can alert you when you or your loved one should take medication.
Improper Rx drug dispensing can result from different causes and lead to lawsuits in many scenarios. The ones explained above are just the tip of the iceberg, but they show the leading causes of this medical malpractice for vulnerable patients. Most causes lie more on the health practitioners‘ side, but patients and loved ones can also contribute to drug prescription errors. If it is an error on the side of pharmacists or physicians, a lawsuit may be warranted.
