Medication is core to the treatment of physical and psychological injury and disease across our healthcare system, and as such, prescription medicines are taken by approximately 40 – 50% of the Irish population.

To meet this need, there are thousands of variants of medication, each with their own benefits and potential side effects.

Medical practitioners have a duty of care to ensure the correct medicine is given, in the correct dosage, to the correct individual.  Any errors at any point in the process, between determining and diagnosis, prescribing, and dispensing can have considerable health implications.

What are Types of Medication Errors?

Medication errors can occur in a number of ways, as follows:

Failure to Explain Side Effects

Your doctor should explain the side effects of the medication they are prescribing.  Failure to do so may put you at risk of health complications.  For example, some drugs may make you tired, hence you should not drive or operate machinery, whereas others cannot be taken with alcohol or narcotics.

Inaccurate Dosage

Prescribing physicians must follow the dosage guidelines provided by the drug manufacturer, including details on when and how to take the medication.  If a doctor misreads the dosage or uses the incorrect unit of measurement (e.g. mcg or mg), then this can have serious consequences.  An error may occur similarly when writing the prescription, or when it is read by the dispensary.  Errors related to handwriting are less common due to the rise in electronic prescribing.

Dispensing the Wrong Medication

Errors may occur at the point the pharmacy dispensary prepares your medication.  They may issue the wrong drug, provide incorrect dosage information, or give the wrong medication to the wrong patient.

Incorrect Prescription Duration

Drugs taken for too long can have serious health consequences.  Similarly, if a dosage is too small, the condition the medication was intended to treat may not be fully remedied.

Allergic Reactions

Any prescribing physician should do all they realistically can to ensure an allergic reaction does not occur.  Any existing allergy should be captured on your medical notes, and therefore should be referenced by your doctor.  In doing so, they can prescribe an alternative medication.  A common example is that of penicillin – many patients are allergic to this anti-biotic; therefore, alternatives must be offered.

Drug Interactions

If you are taking more than one drug, even if one is non-prescription, your doctor must check whether it is safe for you to do so.  Some medications when mixed with others can have serious health consequences – either by combining to have an additional negative effect (e.g. suppressing the immune system) or by rendering the drugs ineffective.