How do doctors fail to catch prescription errors?

As you start to take your prescribed medicine, you may notice odd symptoms. When nothing else seems to explain why this pain is happening, you may realize that a medication error led to this problem.

Doctors can make mistakes, and learning about why prescription errors can happen will help you if you are suffering from medical malpractice.

Lack of proper communication

According to the National Library of Medicine, one of the most common factors that influence this negligence is a doctor who cannot focus on a conversation and mistakenly writes the wrong prescription. They may also give confusing or insufficient instructions to patients.

In some cases, these instructions may only be verbal, which can contribute to this error. Writing down and repeating any important facts, such as how to ingest or take the medicine or how often you should take a dosage, is key.

Partially or totally unreadable writing

When writing a prescription, a doctor may not neatly write each number or letter. Some drugs have very similar names, which can easily confuse you or another person when you go to get the prescription filled.

If the doctor’s handwriting is not entirely clear, they may even forget what they wrote if they go back to check it later.

Confusion among the staff

It is natural for doctors to rely on their other staff or tell them to complete tasks, but when the communication between the two groups is unclear, mistakes can happen. Whether this is typing the wrong number or name into the computer system or telling the patient the wrong information, these errors can contribute to medical malpractice.