How Common Are Medication Errors?

 Posted on February 20, 2025 in Medical Malpractice

A recent survey showed that 61 percent of U.S. respondents were currently taking prescription drugs, with 27 percent taking four or more different prescribed medications. In 2022, there were 6.7 billion prescriptions in the U.S. Medical errors harm or kill patients every day, and the most common medical errors involve medication.

Adverse medication events can happen in hospitals or when taking prescribed drugs at home. If these medication errors are preventable, you may qualify for compensation through a medical malpractice claim. To maximize the amount you could receive, you need to choose the right Morris, IL medical malpractice attorney to handle your case.

What Are Medication Errors?

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs often play a big part in patient care, whether you want to treat symptoms like pain or combat illnesses. As helpful as medications can be, they can also cause serious harm or death. Preventable medication errors can take many forms.

Prescribing Errors

Prescribers must choose the best medication, prescribe the correct dosage and frequency, consider other medications you are taking so a new drug added to the mix will not adversely interact, and ensure you do not have known allergies. Whether through lack of communication, failure to get your medical history, lack of knowledge, or carelessness, prescribers can make serious medication errors.

Dispensing Errors

Many prescription drugs have similar names or package labels. This can cause confusion for pharmacy staff, hospitals, and patients.

Whether you receive your prescription at a pharmacy or as a hospital patient, the pharmacist must ensure that you get the right dosage of the right drug. They should also count each dose carefully and provide clear instructions about how and when to take your medicine. Failing to uphold any of these obligations is a medication error.

Administering and Monitoring Errors

Hospital patients and nursing home residents rely on nurses and staff to give them medications, but medicines can be given to the wrong patient, at the wrong time, or in the wrong dosage. Doctors and nurses should also monitor patients to ensure they do not have an adverse reaction, intervening or adjusting dosages and medications if needed.

What Kinds of Adverse Reactions Can Medication Errors Cause?

The type of reaction a patient has to a medication error depends on several factors. The patient’s condition and the type of error can affect how seriously he or she is harmed. Patients may experience:

• Allergic reactions

• Drug interactions

• A worsening of their condition due to lack of proper treatment

• Organ damage

• Overdose

• Death

Not all medication errors are negligent. For example, a patient could be given a drug for the first time with no one aware of an allergy. However, when a medical professional’s carelessness is the cause of your medication error, and you suffered harm from it, you deserve compensation. You could receive reimbursement for your financial losses and compensation for mental and emotional wounds.

Call a Skilled Joliet, IL Medication Errors Attorney

If a preventable medication error has harmed you, our dedicated Will County, IL medical malpractice lawyer from Carlson Law Group, P.C. can help you secure the full amount of compensation you deserve. To verify whether you have a valid case and how much your case is worth, schedule a free consultation now online or by calling us at 815-710-3700.