Practice Areas

Medication Error

Serving Atlanta, Georgia

Medication errors stem from a number of problems that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is making an effort to fix. These types of mistakes are a form of medical malpractice that can be prosecuted depending on the circumstances. Robbins & Associates can help you determine if you have a case.

Causes of Errors

These events can occur in a number of circumstances such as:

Prescribing
Order communication
Product labeling
Packaging
Compounding
Dispensing
Distribution
Administration
Education
Monitoring
Patient use

According to the American Hospital Association, the following situations are typical causes for medication errors:

Incomplete medical information about the patient such as allergies, other medications, previous diagnoses and lab results
Unavailable drug information such as lack of up-to-date warnings
Miscommunication of drug orders due to poor handwriting, confusion between similar names, misuse of zeros and decimal points, confusion of metric and other dosing units and improper abbreviations
Lack of appropriate labeling in drug preparation and packaging
Environmental factors such as lighting, heat, noise, interruptions that distract focus from medication preparation

FDA Preventive Measures

The FDA receives reports about medication errors on many marketed human drugs. These include:

Prescription name brand drugs
Prescription generic drugs
Over-the-counter drugs
Non-vaccine biological products and devices

A medication error is defined by the FDA as "any preventable event that may cause or lead to improper medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient or consumer."

The FDA is attempting to minimize the occurrences of drug name confusion. They review approximately four hundred drug names each year that are submitted as proposed brand names. About one third of the names are rejected. They also review about 1,400 medication error reports each month to determine the cause and type of error.

FDA regulations require all over-the-counter (OTC) drug products to have a form of standardized label containing facts about the drug. They have also been responsible for improving package inserts provided to health care professionals.

Labeling and packaging materials are being changed to prevent medication mistakes caused by similar-looking packaging. In 2004, the FDA began requiring bar code labels on certain products. The bar codes are a way to ensure correct drugs, dosages, times to take medications and the right patients taking them.

Almost half of the population takes a minimum of one prescription drug on a daily basis. Another one in six people take at least three medications every day. In efforts to improve public knowledge, the FDA issues public health advisories, medication guides and outreach partnerships with other organizations.

For more information about medical mistakes in Atlanta or anywhere else in Georgia, please contact Robbins & Associates, PC today.

6000 Lake Forrest Drive Suite 315, Atlanta, Georgia 30328

404-252-8117 | 800-772-5555 | Contact Us

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