As someone without a medical education, it can be hard for you to understand when your doctor's behavior might be medical malpractice. After all, malpractice occurs when someone fails to meet the established standard for their industry or fails to do what another...
Medication Errors
Examples of potential medication errors
Medical malpractice can happen in many ways, including active mistakes by medical professionals, such as operating on the wrong patient. One way that these mistakes may appear, however, is through medication errors. The full ramifications of these errors may not be as...
Is your doctor putting you at medical risk for tapering your pain medication?
There is no credible doubt that there is a major problem with opioid addiction in the United States. Countless lives have been lost and families destroyed due to the over-prescription of powerful opiate-based drugs to patients who developed raging addictions....
IV drug administration often leads to medication mistakes
Medication mistakes happen in many different ways. A pharmacist or technician might give someone the wrong medicine or the right medication but the wrong dose. A nurse handing out medicine in the hospital might make a mistake during that process. Patients can also...
What happens if you take the wrong medications?
With so many medications having similar names but varied purposes, it’s not surprising that mistakes are sometimes made. Whether a doctor writes a prescription for the wrong drug or a pharmacist fills the wrong one, the patient is the one who is at risk when that...
IV drug delivery is responsible for a lot of medication errors
Medication mistakes can be deadly. People can have an allergic reaction to a medication. A drug given in mistake could interact with another medication or exacerbate medical conditions. Not getting a dose of a drug might reduce how effective the treatment of a...
Why do medication errors happen?
We've talked before about the consequences of medication errors, but never why they happen in the first place. To err is human. That is the title of an Institute of Medicine report into medication errors. When you're a doctor or a pharmacist, however, a mistake when...
People in the hospital get hurt due to staff medication mistakes
When you have to stay in the hospital, you probably assume you will get a better standard of care than you could provide for yourself at home. There will be someone else there to monitor you and ensure you receive the right treatment. Unfortunately, medical...
The wrong dose of pain medication can be deadly
If you were to ask a doctor about the most important medical advances in recent decades, they will probably reference a cutting-edge procedure or medication in their field of expertise. However, if you push them from the most important general advances, improvements...
What’s a pharmacist’s role in preventing dangerous drug interactions?
The government limits access to prescription medications or controlled substances for the safety of the public. Many of these medications could harm someone if used improperly. They can also lead to addiction. Patients in need of medical treatment have protection both...
