Medication mistakes are preventable and can occur in different ways during the various stages of the prescription process. When a health care provider is careless in providing proper medications, the patient can be exposed to the risk of injury, illness or even death from a pharmacy error. In many cases, prescription errors are not discovered until a patient has suffered harm.

Medication errors can result from a pharmacist’s negligence. Pharmacists are often overworked and under pressure to fill a large number of prescriptions quickly, which can lead to mistakes such as mixing up drug names, using incorrect labels or failing to check for adverse drug interactions. The most common types of prescriptions errors are giving patients an incorrect drug or the wrong dosage.

Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals can also make medication mistakes due to miscommunication and other reasons. For instance, a physician may write out a prescription using sloppy handwriting or over-prescribe certain drugs. Sometimes prescription errors can occur due to administrative reasons such as negligent hiring practices or under-staffing of pharmacies, clinics and hospitals.

Other Medication Error FAQs:

• How do pharmacy errors commonly occur?
• What is the time limit for filing a pharmacy error lawsuit in Illinois?
• Who is liable for prescription errors?
• Why do I need a pharmacy error attorney?