What are medication errors and what causes them?

Mistakes with patient medication can happen in all sorts of different scenarios, but the ones we tend to see most frequently are prescribing errors and dispensing errors.

A prescribing error happens when you are given medication that you are allergic to, or is likely to interact in a dangerous way with other medication you might already be taking, or you are prescribed the right medication but in the wrong dose.

A dispensing error typically includes being given the wrong patient’s medication. In those circumstances you often find that the right label has been printed off, but it has been put onto the wrong box of medication.  Or the right medication has been provided, but in the wrong doseage.

Sadly in almost all situations medication errors are usually down to human fault.  As we know, mistakes can easily happen, especially when boxes of tablets look similar. But for that reason, there are strict protocols and routines for how a patient’s medication should be handled, to try and reduce the risk of things going wrong.  Unfortunately, despite those rules, mistakes still sometimes slip through the net.

The impact on the patient can be very significant, and there are two things to consider. Firstly, the ill effects caused by taking the wrong medication. This will often depend on how long the wrong medication was taken for and how strong it is.  Secondly, while the patient was taking the wrong medication, they weren’t receiving the treatment they should have been on.  So, there might be an avoidable worsening of their health as a result.  It is therefore vital that if you suspect there has been a mistake with your prescription that you don’t take any more medication before checking with a healthcare professional.

If you think you have been prescribed or dispensed medication in error then:

1. Stop taking the medication immediately and seek medical advice from your GP or 111 service.  Or if you are seriously unwell, go to hospital;
2. Report the error to the pharmacy/healthcare provider;
3. Keep hold of any packaging you might have, such as the wrong box of medication with the right label.

Once the pharmacy or healthcare provider are aware of the mistake, they will look into how and why it happened, which can add to your understanding of the incident.  It can also highlight issues in the hope of reducing the chance of mistakes happening again in the future.

If you have suffered an avoidable worsening of your health condition, or experienced avoidable symptoms as a result of the medication error, then you may be entitled to compensation.

How can we help?

The amount of investigation work needed in these types of claims are often very involved, so if you are worried about treatment you have had, you should seek help sooner rather than later. 

If you would like a free, no obligation conversation with one of our medical negligence solicitors, get in touch by calling 0116 247 2000, complete our contact form, or send us an email via info@smithpartnership.co.uk.

We also have expert medical negligence solicitors at our offices across the East Midlands, in Burton, Derby, Stoke and Swadlincote.