What Kinds of Prescription Errors Are There?
A prescription error is typically defined as any preventable event or mistake that leads to the prescription of the wrong medication or the harm of a patient while the medication is controlled by a medical professional. It can be safe to assume that few, if any, medical practitioners intentionally prescribe the wrong medication, but that does not stop numerous errors from occurring on a daily basis, nationwide. Kinds of prescription errors include:
Illegible prescriptions
People often joke about the poor handwriting of doctors prescribing medications, but it is no laughing matter when the careless strokes of a pen lead to the wrong prescription being processed at the patient’s pharmacy.
Incorrect dosage
When a patient is given the correct medication but told to take it with the incorrect dosage – whether too many or too few in a 24 hour cycle – this is considered a prescription error.
Unsafe pharmacy conditions
If the pharmacy is not in suitable conditions or in disarray, similar medications can easily be confused and mixed into one prescription.
General lack of knowledge
A dangerous form of negligence, simply not understanding the details of prescriptions by a pharmacy technician can lead to medication errors.