Technology today has changed the way in which we do a lot of activities. For example, we don’t stand in line waiting for cash and change anymore. Instead of walking into shopping malls, we sit on our couches and order offline. People even order food online and it gets hand delivered to our door. The digital age has influenced the medical field in radical ways. From fancy new x-ray and MRI machines to using AI to perform common surgeries, technology has improved our lives in many ways. Yet, as we have all experienced slow internet processing or programs crashing, incorporating technology into the medical world isn’t without its errors. Our medication errors attorneys Philadelphia at The Weitz Firm, LLC know first hand because we work with victims of errors all the time.
Did you know that medication error is the third leading cause of death in the United States? Heart disease and cancer are the first and second reasons for death. The majority of medical errors are medication related. Medical error is defined as “a preventable adverse effect of medical care whether or not evident or harmful to the patient”. Thankfully most medication errors happen in the hospital where people can be treated immediately if adverse effects do apply. However, there are plenty of cases where people are in their homes without immediate medical care.
Medication errors are more than just providing the wrong dosage. Sometimes it includes prescribing the wrong kind of medication or providing a medication that doesn’t help the situation and not following up with the patient to correct the error. Often times medication error gets lost in translation from the doctor’s offices to the pharmacy. For example, a doctor could prescribe Klonopin to a grieving patient, yet the pharmacy may misread as Clonidine used to help hypertension. Hopefully, the pharmacist catches the mistake and reviews the patient record. The record may show that there was no note made of hypertension. These kinds of accidents happen thousands of times. It is completely reasonable to see how medication errors get past both doctors and pharmacists review. Yet, that doesn’t make it any easier on the patient who is injured by the error.
In order to combat the errors causing injury and death, PA has started the Patient Safety Authority which is a database that analyzes trends and anomalies in a medication error. The database contains more than 2.5 billion medical error reports. Since its start, PSA has help curb 45% of “high harm” errors over the past 10 years. The PSA also breaks down adverse effects from error based on gender and age. It was discovered that women have the most adverse effects.
If you or someone you love is suffering from a medical error, you are not alone. There are plenty of people just like you. Reach out to our Philadelphia Medication Errors Attorneys to help prevent others from a similar fate. Call 267-587-6240 or click here to start a free consultation with our professional attorneys at The Weitz Firm, LLC in Philadelphia today.
We are highly selective in the cases we undertake to ensure that can give each client his full attention. You can schedule an appointment for a personal injury consultation at our Philadelphia office by calling us, or by filling out our online intake form.
