Medicines along with other pharmaceutical products can be very beneficial when prescribed and used correctly. However, if a medicine is prescribed wrongly or maybe a dosage error is made, the outcomes for the affected individual might be considerable perhaps even deadly. Physicians, pharmacists, and nursing staff could be held accountable for medical malpractice involving prescribed medication mistakes, which occurs all too often.
Around 1.5 million people in the USA are sickened, injured or killed per year through errors in prescribing, dispensing and taking medications, the Institute of Medicine concluded in a major document released in 2006. A concerning review by a panel of professionals noticed that errors in issuing prescription drugs are so commonplace in hospitals that, typically, an individual can be subjected to a medication mistake every day he or she occupies a hospital bed! A great number of medication mistakes would be avoided if medical professionals put into practice electronic prescribing or if hospitals had a standardized bar-code system for checking and dispensing drugs, the report claimed.
Common errors include physicians issuing prescriptions which could interact dangerously with other drugs an individual is taking, nurses putting the wrong medication — or the incorrect dose — in an intravenous drip and pharmacists dispensing 100-milligram pills rather than the prescribed 50-milligram dosage. According to past research, the panel thought that drug errors result in no less than 400,000 preventable injuries and deaths in hospitals every year, more than 800,000 in nursing homes and facilities for the elderly, and 530,000 among Medicare clients dealt with in outpatient clinics. The report said the actual figures are most likely a lot higher.
Physicians have a responsibility to make sure that the medications they order for their patients are appropriate and are also given in the right way. Equally, hospitals, via their nursing staff, have a duty to make certain medications are appropriate and given as ordered by the physician. Furthermore, pharmacists and pharmacy personnel are responsible for making sure that medications ordered don’t clash with other medications an individual may be taking and for filling prescriptions correctly. Unfortunately, these duties are sometimes neglected and serious mistakes occur in prescribing and administering medications to patients.
If you or someone you know has been injured by a medication error, call a competent injury lawyer in Oconee County Georgia for a consultation. Look for lawyers that have experience representing victims of medication errors, and also have access to professional consultants who are able to assist in evaluating your case.
Consult with Personal Injury Lawyers in Athens Georgia immediately if you have been affected by Medical Malpractice.
Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Athens GA might be able to help get you the compensation you deserve.
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