By: Russell Keener  —  February 11, 2011
 

Health­Day has reported, “Con­fu­sion caused by look-alike and sound-alike names con­tributes to a large num­ber of the painkiller pre­scrip­tion errors that occur in hos­pi­tals,” accord­ing to a study pub­lished in the Jan­u­ary 2011 issue of The Jour­nal of Pain. Researchers reviewed “714,290 orders for painkillers in a large data­base of pharmacist-detected-and-prevented pre­scrib­ing errors.” The researchers found that

“the over­all error rate was 2.87 per 1,000 pre­scrip­tions (2,044 cases) and the rate of poten­tially seri­ous pre­scrib­ing errors was 0.63 per 1,000 (449 cases).”

Com­mon Drug­store Mal­prac­tice Errors

• Incor­rect dosage man­age­ment to adjust to a patient’s changed condition
• Pre­scrib­ing med­ica­tions that con­flict with other pre­scribed med­ica­tions and cause adverse reac­tions in patients
• Dis­trib­ut­ing the wrong med­ica­tion, dosage, or pill count, or dis­pens­ing a pre­scrip­tion to the wrong patient
• Pre­scrib­ing med­ica­tions that con­flict with a patient’s pre-existing ill­nesses or aller­gies and cause adverse reac­tions in patients
• Inac­cu­rate or incom­plete med­ical advice when dis­trib­ut­ing med­ica­tion to a drug­store customer

Atlanta, Geor­gia Phar­macy Mal­prac­tice Lawyers

Phar­macy mal­prac­tice such as mis­filled pre­scrip­tions, med­ica­tion dosage errors, and wrong instruc­tions have caused strokes, heart attacks, ele­vated blood pres­sure, over­doses, and wrong­ful death in patients. If you or a fam­ily mem­ber have become sick or had an exist­ing ill­ness worsen because of a pre­scrip­tion error, drug­store mis­take, or other phar­macy mal­prac­tice, you need an expe­ri­enced attor­ney to help you pre­pare your case. Con­tact the Atlanta Injury Lawyers at The Keener Law Firm today to eval­u­ate your claim, (770) 955‑3000 or Toll-Free: (800) 900‑2400 .