If you have found out that you are going to start taking a daily prescription, you might be worried about pharmacy errors that could lead to harm. You don’t want to be the victim of these pharmacy errors that can lead to lasting health problems that might plague you for your whole life. In some cases, pharmacy negligence can even lead to death.
If you have been taking prescription medications for years, you are probably aware of the many times that you might have questions about your medications. Your pharmacist is supposed to be sure to answer these questions and verify that you have been given the right medications before you are allowed to leave the pharmacy. But what if this is not done for you?
These questions and more can lead to you needing to know the ways to prevent being the victim of pharmacy negligence.
These errors happen when pharmacists do not exercise their duty of care when filling prescriptions. They are required to make sure that they give you the right medication at the right dose and that they check your medical records and prescription history to be sure that there is no chance of negative drug interactions with your existing medications or health concerns. They must also provide you with the council when you get your medications. If any of these steps are missed, you might be the victim of pharmacy negligence.
You should always take an active role in examining the medications that you have been given each time your prescription is being refilled. If you are not in good enough health to do this, make sure that a family member or caregiver takes care of this need for you.
1. Compare Your New Medications to the Old Ones
If you have been given new medications and they do not look like the other ones that you have been taking, this could be a sign that your prescription is not correct. While medications can change color and size over time, it is not that common for them to do so. Many medications look exactly alike, and it can be easy to give someone the wrong white pills if the pills look just like another drug.
You should always ask your pharmacist about changes to the appearance of a medication that you have been taking for a long time. This could prevent an accident that could lead to your health being harmed or worse. A pharmacist should always be willing to check that the medication that they have given you is correct or inform you about changes to the appearance of your medications.
2. Consider Your Other Medications
Being informed about the side effects of some of your other medications can help prevent you from falling victim to a pharmacy error. If you are on a medication that you know prohibits you from taking other classes of drugs, you should ask your pharmacist or doctor about prescriptions that you think might interact with your current medications.
While this is the job of the doctor who is caring for you and the pharmacist who filled your prescription order, you can still make sure that you ask questions if you have concerns. Sadly, human error can happen, and possible drug interactions can be missed when your prescription is being filled. These drug interactions are often very harmful and can even lead to death, so be on the lookout for these possible issues.
3. Look at the Directions
If the information about how to take your medication does not make sense, you should reach out to your doctor or pharmacist to see if you are taking the medication correctly. This can apply to the dosage as well. If you think that the instructions do not make sense to you or are not the same as they usually would be for this medication, you should not blindly trust the label.
Making sure that you get access to the pharmacist’s council before you leave with your medications can help to correct these potential errors or sources of confusion. At the end of the day, if your doctor has been the one to tell the pharmacist to prescribe in this way, you might need to reach out to them as well. There is no reason to take medications in a way or at a dosage that you think will harm you without checking that this is the right way to take them and the right dosage.
4. Verify Online
While it is not wise to self-diagnose or try to be your own doctor using the internet, you can look at the markings and colors of your pills and do a general search online to see if the pills pop up. The markings that are on pills are unique to help separate them and you might be able to figure out what medication you have been given if you think it is the wrong one.
If you find an image that shows that the pills in your hand are not your medication, you should not take these pills and you should reach out to your pharmacy right away. As stated before, many pills look the same and pharmacists can sometimes give you medications that are not the correct ones for your needs.
Kennedy Law Firm has years of experience taking care of the personal injury cases of those who have been harmed through pharmacy negligence. These errors can lead to significant harm or even death, and Kennedy Law Firm takes pride in caring for their clients who have been injured in this way.
If you think that your illness or your health condition has been caused by pharmacy error or negligence, reach out to us today. We will help you to get the compensation that you deserve for your injuries and the support that is needed if you are unable to return to work and need long-term care.
Work with us for all your personal injury needs and we will make sure to get you the best outcome for your case related to Pharmacy Negligence and Pharmacy Error.
Pharmacy errors can cause death or significant health concerns. If you think that you have been harmed due to a
Pharmacy negligence results in 1.5 million injuries to people in the US each year. These errors happen in the hospital
Pharmacists are required by law and by definition of their duties to provide specific care to their customers and patients
