Preventing Medication Errors

Current overwhelming problems in our healthcare system that is usually not brought to attention are Medication errors. Medication errors include all mistakes involving prescription drugs, over-the-counter products, vitamins, minerals, or herbal supplements. According to the FDA's evaluated reports of fatal medication errors, the most common error involving medications was related to the improper dosing of medicine. Improper dosing accounts for roughly 41% of all fatal medication errors. Giving the wrong drug and using the wrong method of administration each accounted for 16% of the errors. Almost half of the fatal medication errors occurred in people over the age of 60. Older people may be at greatest risk for medication errors because they often take multiple prescription medications. Although prescription drugs are fantastic life saving remedies of modern science, they are also very dangerous.

Medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people every year, as report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. This is an issue that has to be rectified and remedied. You ask, what is the cause of these problems? The list includes the illegible nature that some prescriptions are written in, confusing and similar drug names, writing the wrong prescribed dosage, damage caused from mixing prescriptions together, and finally not taking into proper account all the physical attributes of each individual patient such as age, weight, and height. Not one cause on the list of errors is so profound it cannot be overcome. Most can be avoided with satisfactory attention to detail.

The extra medical costs of treating drug-related injuries occurring in hospitals alone conservatively amounts to $3.5 billion a year. This estimate does not take into account lost wages, physical pain and suffering, productivity, or additional health care costs. These facts are simply sobering, this problem must be remedied for the sake of everyone effected by healthcare.