Common Pharmacy Errors
Approximately 1.5 million people are injured annually in the United States due to pharmacy or medication errors, the number of probable deaths due to medical errors each year range as high as 98,000, which is greater than the number that occur from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, AIDS, or workplace accidents, respectively.
Total annual costs related to medical errors, which includes health care and disability expenditures in addition to loss of income and productivity, are estimated at $37 to $50 billion, with avertable adverse events projected to reach $17 to $29 billion. Preventable medical mistakes are estimated to represent as much as 2% of total health care costs.
Those numbers are simply overwhelming and yet all those deaths are preventable.
The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention defines a medication error as "any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer... "
The general public is very much aware that medical and pharmacy errors occur and have a legitimate fear of such mistakes affecting their well-being. According to a poll conducted by the National Patient Safety Foundation, 42% of respondents had been affected by a medical error, either personally or through a friend or relative, and 32% indicated that the error had a permanent negative effect on the patients’ health.
Medication errors can take place anywhere within the system of drug prescribing, distribution, and administration, and most often is a direct result of mistakes by pharmacist, physician, nurse, or other medical personnel.
The most common causes of medical errors include:
The apparent proliferations of medical errors have not gone unnoticed. Both regulatory agencies and patients have taken steps to seek restitution for the damages caused by mistakes. Medical Personnel can be held legally liable for their errors. In fact, the number of legal and administrative actions filed has risen significantly as the frequency of errors increases.
At the Law Office of Aleksandr Vakarev Esq., we believe that holding negligent pharmacies and negligent medical personnel accountable is off priority. Accountability helps to reduce the overall incidence of errors and pharmacist negligence.
Our New York pharmacy negligence lawyers work with the leading industry experts to prove your case. Our lawyers, paralegals and investigators work as a team to achieve substantial compensation for our clients who have been harmed by medication errors.
If you or a loved one has been injured due to someone poor maintenance and negligence, you may be entitled to monetary compensation for:
With the help of a dedicated New York Personal Injury Attorney at the Law Office of Aleksandr Vakarev Esq, we will determine whether your personal injury case has merit.
WE WILL DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF YOUR ENTITLED COMPENSATION.
Our personal injury lawyers’ work on a contingency basis, so you only pay a fee if we recover money for you. Contact our experienced Attorneys today at the Law Office of Aleksandr Vakarev Esq., for a free consultation at 718-839-6885.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP!!!!
Contact info here.
Those numbers are simply overwhelming and yet all those deaths are preventable.
The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention defines a medication error as "any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer... "
The general public is very much aware that medical and pharmacy errors occur and have a legitimate fear of such mistakes affecting their well-being. According to a poll conducted by the National Patient Safety Foundation, 42% of respondents had been affected by a medical error, either personally or through a friend or relative, and 32% indicated that the error had a permanent negative effect on the patients’ health.
Medication errors can take place anywhere within the system of drug prescribing, distribution, and administration, and most often is a direct result of mistakes by pharmacist, physician, nurse, or other medical personnel.
The most common causes of medical errors include:
- Dispensing incorrect medication: this occurs when the patient's doctor correctly prescribed medication, and the pharmacist filled the prescription with the wrong medication. Reasons include improper abbreviations, labeling errors, poor handwriting and pharmacy policies that encourage speed and prescription volume and disregarding patient safety.
- Dispensing wrong dosage: this occurs when a patient's doctor prescribed the correct dosage of a medication and the pharmacist dispensed the correct medicine but in the wrong dosage. This often occurs when an error is made regarding a zero or decimal.
- Confusion between similar looking or sounding drugs is a widely encountered problem: For example, the FDA issued a warning to pharmacists in 2005 alerting them of the risk for mix-ups with Tegretol, Toprol, and Topamax.
- Miscommunication- pharmacists and physicians: this can occur when a pharmacist fails to properly verify a drug name or dosage with the doctor. They also fail to confirm that the patient is not allergic to the prescribed medication or failure to learn of drug interactions with drugs that patients are currently on.
- Failure to provide sufficient counseling: this occurs when a pharmacist neglects to explain the potential side effects of the prescribed medication; warn you about potentially harmful drug interactions; inquire about your medication allergies; "prospective drug review" before dispensing or delivering.
The apparent proliferations of medical errors have not gone unnoticed. Both regulatory agencies and patients have taken steps to seek restitution for the damages caused by mistakes. Medical Personnel can be held legally liable for their errors. In fact, the number of legal and administrative actions filed has risen significantly as the frequency of errors increases.
At the Law Office of Aleksandr Vakarev Esq., we believe that holding negligent pharmacies and negligent medical personnel accountable is off priority. Accountability helps to reduce the overall incidence of errors and pharmacist negligence.
Our New York pharmacy negligence lawyers work with the leading industry experts to prove your case. Our lawyers, paralegals and investigators work as a team to achieve substantial compensation for our clients who have been harmed by medication errors.
If you or a loved one has been injured due to someone poor maintenance and negligence, you may be entitled to monetary compensation for:
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WE WILL DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF YOUR ENTITLED COMPENSATION.
Our personal injury lawyers’ work on a contingency basis, so you only pay a fee if we recover money for you. Contact our experienced Attorneys today at the Law Office of Aleksandr Vakarev Esq., for a free consultation at 718-839-6885.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP!!!!
Contact info here.
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