How to Protect Yourself From Medication Errors.

Medication Error Definition

Here is the definition of medication error provided by The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP). A medication error is “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use.”

As you can see, a medication error can occur at any time and can involve anyone in the process of getting the correct medication to the intended person. Everyone involved in the process also has a responsibility to prevent an error from happening. Yearly, community pharmacies dispense over 3 billion prescriptions. It is estimated the error rate in the dispensing process is between 0.26% and 24%. Many of these errors are significant enough to cause harm.

The Institute of Medicine published a report in 2006 estimating there to be at least 1.5 million adverse drug events in the United States every year. This number includes all settings such as hospitals and long term care facilities. They state the true number may be even higher.

To combat medication errors all the medical professions are working on ways to reduce errors. In order for these efforts to be effective the Institute of Medicine states a comprehensive approach is required to prevent errors from happening. There will need to be changes from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health professionals, the Food and Drug Administration, other government agencies and from patients.

You, the patient, need to be directly involved in preventing errors and there are lots of things you can do to take an active role. Here are tips from the FDA

• Know the names of your medications – Ask the doctor the drug name when he writes a prescription so you can tell if you are given something different when you get the prescription filled.

• Ask questions – How do I take this? What can I expect? What if I miss a dose? What side effects are possible?

• Know what the medication is for – By knowing what your medication is for you are more likely to understand how to take it, what to expect from the medication, and you will be better able to report if you are having problems with it.

• Read the medication’s labels and follow the directions – Before you use a medication you should know when to use it, how much to take, how frequently and for how long. Read the label every time. There are many reports of people taking the wrong medicine in the middle of the night because they did not turn on the light to read the label.

• Tell all your healthcare providers all of your medications – You should keep an up to date list of the medications you take. This should include prescriptions, over the counter medications, vitamins and herbal/natural products. They cannot make an informed review without complete information.

• Keep this list with you – You should have this list with you at all times and let a loved one know where you keep it. You should also have a copy at home.

Additional tips from PharmerDon

• When the doctor writes the prescription, make sure you can read it. The prescription should be clearly written with no abbreviations which are often misinterpreted. A type written or computer generated prescription is even better.
• Avoid letting the doctor’s office call the prescription in to the pharmacy. There is less chance of an error if you bring the prescription to the pharmacy or the doctor sends it electronically.
• Stay with one pharmacy for all of your prescriptions. If all your medicine is on file in one location the pharmacist can screen for interactions and other problems.
• Avoid transferring your prescriptions from one pharmacy to another. I have seen errors occur when a prescription is transferred between pharmacies. Some people pharmacy hop because of the “free gift card” when you transfer a prescription. The more a prescription is moved around the greater the chance for a mistake.
• Take an active role in understanding your medicine and managing your condition. The better you understand your medicine and your condition the more likely you will receive appropriate therapy and the smaller the chance of an error getting past you.
• Periodically (about every 6 months) ask your doctor to review your medications. Ask if there are any that can be stopped or if there are potential problems. You can ask your pharmacy to do the same.
• Always verify the medication you received from the pharmacy is the same the doctor wrote on the prescription. For refills verify pills look the same as the previous time. Question any differences you notice.
• Always keep medications in the original container with the pharmacy label on it.
• Don’t take someone else’s medications. It may not be right for you or it may interact with your other medications.

Conclusion

Remember, everyone is human and capable of errors. No one wants to make a mistake but it only takes a brief lapse of concentration for someone to make a potentially serious mistake. Do your part, be involved and ask questions. You are the last one involved in medication administration. Be confident the medication you are taking is the correct one for you.

More information about medication safety at www.learnaboutrxsafety.org/

Report an error http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm

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