10 Common Types of Medication Errors

MSN Health & Fitness ran a piece recently where it listed ten common medication mistakes.  The ones that made the list were:

1. Confusing medications with similar sounding names
2. Taking two or more drugs which increase the side effects of each
3. Overdosing by taking two similar medications
4. Getting medication with the wrong dosage
5. Drinking alcohol with the medication
6. Doubling the dose of the medication by taking a generic and name brand medication at the same time
7. Mixing prescription medications with over the counter or alternative medicines
8. Not understanding interactions between medication and diet
9. Failing to adjust medication dosage to account for problems in kidney or liver function
10. Taking a medication not safe for a person your age

This is a pretty comprehensive list of things that can go wrong with taking prescription medications.  Drugs stores and pharmacists are well aware of the causes of medication error, and steps are in place to prevent errors in the preparation of the prescription medication and to screen for other types of errors.  However, in many pharmacies, the pharmacist is required to fill more prescriptions than can be safely accomplished, and this opens the door for injuries and death due to medication error.

As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, it seems to me that the most common kind of medication errors come from sound-alike medications (#1 above), improper dosage of medication (#4 above), and drug interaction errors (#2, #3, #7, and #8 above).