Most Floridians naturally trust their medical professionals to utilize safe standards of care in order to protect their well-being. This is especially true where administering medications is concerned.
How is a Medication Error Legally Defined?
The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) defines a medication error as a preventable accident stemming from the inadequate or inappropriate use of any drug, which results in patient harm. Medication errors can occur in any form within the healthcare setting.
A small number of these errors might be relatively harmless, but most of them can cause serious health damage to the patient. Here are some of the more serious forms of medication errors, which may constitute medical malpractice in Florida:
- Wrong dosage: Medications need to be provided in the correct dosage for them to be of any help.
- Incorrect medication: Prescribing an incorrect medication can have more severe results as compared to dosage errors. The medicine may exacerbate the problem.
- Harmful interaction: The doctor should consider the likelihood of drug interaction when prescribing new medications.
- Mislabeling: Patients may consume the wrong medication if it has been mislabeled.
- Allergic reaction: Doctors are required to consider the possibility of an allergic reaction caused by the medication.
It’s easy to understand how an error may occur with the numerous steps involved in the process of providing patients with medication. Based on this, this doesn’t mean you need to accept these preventable errors as commonplace.
