When we visit a pharmacy to fill a prescription, we place an enormous amount of trust in the pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. We assume they will provide the correct medication in the appropriate dosage, complete with precise instructions for use. But pharmacy errors happen more frequently than one might think,…
Unfortunately, incorrect or erroneous distribution or application of medications is surprisingly present in the United States. In fact, some sources cite a rate of one in five Americans experiencing a medical error while receiving health treatment. Unfortunately, Maryland is no exception to this trend, and Maryland residents should be aware…
According to reports, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives approximately 100,000 medication error reports annually. In 2010, the FDA received only 16,689, but by 2018, the agency was receiving more than 100,000 reports per year. Experts point out that medication error reports are submitted on a voluntary basis,…
A recent news report details just how troublesome prescription errors by pharmacies can be, resulting in sanctions. In the state of Iowa, state regulators recently penalized a drugstore accused of destroying relevant paperwork after dispensing the incorrect medication to a customer. According to the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, in 2020…
When medication dispensing errors happen, they can cause serious side effects and life-altering issues for patients, and in some cases, these errors can lead to death. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), each year in the United States, 7,000 to 9,000 people die as a result of a…
Medication error has been a leading cause of harm for patients, and an expensive cost for healthcare providers. In a digital age, some healthcare providers have implemented digital solutions to medication errors, but these digital solutions can cause doctors to receive too many alerts that lack specificity and that also…
When it comes to our prescriptions, we count on pharmacies to get it right. Instructions scribbled by doctors on notepads or hurriedly said by nurses and office staff while we check our calendars for follow up appointments or scrutinize our bills are hardly reliable. Instead, checking and double-checking pill bottles…
After a long period of lockdown, demand for COVID vaccines and boosters has been high. At times, the demand has exceeded both the supply of vaccines and pharmacies’ capacity to administer them. Unfortunately, when a pharmacy accepts a high volume of patients without increasing its capacity and hiring more staff,…
Patients seeking medical care have certain standards and expectations for what they will receive when getting treatment. When those standards are not met, the consequences can be dire. For patients whose lives are on the line, one small mistake from a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist can have an enormous impact.…
After almost two years since COVID-19 vaccines become available, there are still concerns regarding avoidable administration errors that result from labeling and communication errors. When we walk into a doctor’s office to receive vaccines, we trust that we will receive the correct vaccination. But when administration errors occur for various…