Consumers Can Help Prevent Costly Prescription Errors
October, 2008
Preventing medical errors due to incorrect prescriptions can be as easy as reading your name on the label before leaving the pharmacy. The Institute of Medicine estimates that there could be at least 1.5 million preventable adverse drug events each year in hospitals.1
Tips to help prevent prescription errors:2
- Bring a list of all your current medications and vitamins to appointments with your doctor. Ask if any new medications prescribed interact with any of your current prescriptions.
- Remind your doctor and pharmacist of any drugs you are allergic to.
- Ask questions if you do not understand your doctor's instructions for a new medication prior to leaving the doctor's office.
- Before leaving the pharmacy, check the name on the label to be sure you were given the correct prescription.
- If the medicine looks different from what you think your doctor prescribed or the refill is a different shape, color, or size from your previous dose, consult your pharmacist.
- Read the directions carefully and completely when you get your medicine. If any of the directions are unclear, contact your doctor.
- Be aware of how and when you should take the medicine. For example, does it need to be taken with food? Does it interact with any other medication? Can it affect your daily activities (including driving, drinking alcohol, or using tobacco products)?
- Ask your doctor if you need any periodic medical tests to determine if you are experiencing any side-effects.
- Ask your doctor about any side effects you may experience when taking this drug. If you experience any abnormal or severe side effects, call your doctor or 911 immediately.
- Make sure each prescription container lists the medicine's accurate name, dose, directions for use, and the condition being treated. Do not mix different medicines in a single container. These steps will help to assure that the right medicines will be given if, for some reason, you are unable to take your own medicines or cannot instruct others to give them to you.
- Make a list of your prescriptions (or make a photocopy of current prescriptions) and keep it with the packet of other vital documents that you will take if you need to evacuate your home because of fire, flood, or other emergency.
For more helpful medical safety tips for your employees, visit the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's page for Consumers and Patients.
Reference:
1 Institute for Medicine. Preventive medical errors, July 2006. Available at: http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/35/943/medication%20errors%20new.pdf. Accessed October 8, 2008.
2 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Check Your Medicines: Tips for Using Medicines Safely. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; April 2008. AHRQ Pub. No. 08-M044-A. Available at: http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/checkmeds.htm. Accessed October 9, 2008.
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