What are causes of medication errors in a hospital?

Medication error, otherwise known as prescription drug errors or medication dosage mistakes, poses significant risks for patients. In the United States, hundreds of thousands of patients endure medication mistakes made medical professionals, which include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians, among others. These errors can cause damages ranging from no interaction or ill effects to catastrophic complications leading to death, and in reality, these errors are entirely preventable.

The following lists some of the more notable causes of medications errors, including:

• Miscommunication between prescribing doctors and pharmacy staff members, including issues with legibility of the prescription and other problems

• Miscommunication between doctors and hospital team members, including medical technicians, administrative personnel, and nurses

• Misdiagnosis leading to doctors prescribing the incorrect medication

• Errors in pharmacies and other places dispensing prescription drugs

In practice, any number of events or situations may give rise to a patient ultimately receiving the wrong medication, the wrong dosage of medication, or the wrong directions on the correct use of the medication.

If you have suffered harm, damages, complications, or other losses stemming from prescription drug errors, it is important to consult with a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as feasibly possible following discovery of the prescription drug error. Prescription drug errors caused by medical malpractice may give patient’s grounds for filing a viable medical malpractice lawsuit against liable parties and allow a patient to recover compensation for damages and other losses. Consult with medical malpractice lawyer today to learn more about your legal rights and options.