You may not have ever even thought about who is filling your prescriptions, and if they have filled them properly, or made a mistake. Some mistakes can be easily caught and or fixed, while others can cause terrible medical problems and even lead to death. How do you make sure your prescriptions are being filled properly and no mistakes are being made? Are pharmaceutical mistakes common, and why are increasing in frequency? What can we do to help make sure we and our loved ones are being dispensed the correct medication in the correct dosage?
According to researchers who analyzed over 9,000 prescriptions filled at a large hospital’s outpatient pharmacy in New Jersey, they found over 1,000 mistakes! This means that mistakes were made in approximately 1 in 8 prescriptions! The mistakes ranged from bottle with the wrong pills, wrong dosage and labeling errors. Why are all these mistakes being made? In part it is due to pharmacists being over worked. The demand for prescription drugs has really increased, paperwork has become more complicated and pharmacists are often asked to work long hours and also assist in other areas of the stores that contain their pharmacies. In order to cut costs, pharmacy technicians are assisting pharmacists, some without proper training.
What can be done about this new and growing problem? The stores that contain the pharmacies should make sure that the pharmacists are taking adequate breaks and are not working too long hours. In some states, the stores are also held accountable in addition to the pharmacist when a mistake is made. This can be an incentive to be sure the pharmacists are not overworked.
What can we do as patients? Check your medications and ask questions. If the medication looks different then it has in the past, ask the pharmacist. It may be that the manufacturer is changed and the medication is correct. However, there is a chance that there has been a mistake made and checking your medications and asking questions could potentially save your life. It is also important to make sure your pharmacist has all your current medications and allergies so that they can use this information to check for drug interactions when filling your prescriptions.