Medication Errors
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July 21, 2006 at 9:22 am
Medication errors harm 1.5 million people and kill several thousand each year in the U.S., the Institute of Medicine concluded in a report released yesterday. The Institute’s first report on medication errors, released in 1999, estimated that medical errors of all sorts led to as many as 99,000 deaths each year.
It is obviously imperative that:
1. We carry a list of meds with us to each doctor’s visit.
2. We bring the same list to E.R. and hospitals and ask questions about meds given us.
3. Carry a list of your specific ailments and doctors with you.
4. If your doctor or nurse does not speak or understand English properly, ask for another reading.
5. Ask your doctor about the interactions between the free samples she gives you and other meds. As Brandy has pointed out on other threads, doctors frequently do not read the information but rely on drug company salespeople.
6. If possible, bring all your prescriptions to the same pharmacy.Regards,
Marge -
July 21, 2006 at 11:32 am
The Rite Aid Pharmacy prints out a sheet of information for you with each prescription you are given with the possible side affects and other drug interactions with other meds. When Frank was first DXED with other illnesses before GBS/CIDP his Cardiologist had prescribed several meds that would have a bad interaction with each other. I called the Cardio and told him and he kind of got highly annoyed at me for questioning him, so I asked to speak to the senior cardiologist who had operated on Frank and told him about the meds, he changed them ASAP to meds that would not cause him major problems. The same thing happened with the Diabetes meds Frank was taking, the Dr got pissed off at Frank and me for questioning him about Avandia and the bad side affects that Frank was having from them. Needless to say we changed Drs pronto and the new Dr told Frank never to take Avandia again, they prescribed different meds and all side affects disappeared.
Always be your own Dr and read all drug inserts that come with your meds and always question your Drs, they don’t always know whats best for you.
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July 21, 2006 at 2:08 pm
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=darkorchid]The importance of #6 on Marge’s list can’t be stressed enough. If there is a problem with a new med you are having a pharmacy fill, and you take all your meds to the same pharmacy, there will be a better chance that your pharmacist will catch the problem if there may be a drug interaction and notify your doctor so he can change it. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#9932cc]*Note to self: Send pharmacist cookies at Christmas.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT] -
July 21, 2006 at 6:48 pm
to add to that great info from marge-make sure you ask about all your meds when you are with your dr, or if in a hospital-make sure you ask what the meds are that they try to give you-if unsure about one don’t be afraid to speak up and don’t take it until you get all the info you need.:)
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July 21, 2006 at 9:04 pm
I’ve been meaning to write down the meds im on to put in my bag, thanx for the reminder. Also, I hadnt thought of the the one about docs and nurses not speaking English properly. Saw 2 specialists, one yesterday and one today, and neither speak english properly. I repeat everything they say, and still there are mix ups.
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