Health Matters

Health Matters

By Virginia Lester,
RN, MSN, ARNP

A very important concern for all of us is to be aware of medication errors. Perhaps an error may be of little consequence; however, most often unsuspected problems can occur and cause significant illness or death.

More than 1.5 million people are harmed by medication errors every year, according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. These errors include mistakes involving prescription drugs, over the counter products, vitamins, minerals or herbal supplements.

More medications/products enter the market each year, increasing the potential for mistakes. To enhance your safety, it is your responsibility to advocate for yourself. Following are some ideas that may help prevent mishaps.

When a new prescription medication is prescribed for you, you need information regarding side effects, directions for taking the medication, how and why medications are prescribed, what conditions they treat, reactions if taken with other medications and how they should be stored to preserve the quality. Learn both the brand and generic name of each medication.

Be sure you are able to read the label on each medicine bottle clearly as well as the accompanying information that the pharmacist provides when the prescription is filled. If your provider or pharmacist does not provide this information, ask for it.

Also take notes during your visit if you have difficulty remembering detailed instructions or have someone else accompany you for your visit. Be diligent to read labels and know the content of over the counter drugs and herbal supplements. Many foods interfere with the absorption and effectiveness of your medication.

Space does not allow specific food groups or reactions to be discussed here; however, many web sites can provide this information. One example is grapefruit. It can interfere with the metabolism of several medications and cause adverse reactions.

Take your medications with you for your appointment with your provider. Use this time to clarify any questions you have regarding your medications. Keep a list of all of your prescriptions, herbal preparations, over the counter meds and medication allergies in a handy place such as your wallet.

Always update your provider about any new prescriptions added from other providers, herbs or over the counter meds that you have added since your last visit.

Do not keep old medications in your medicine cabinet that you no longer need – throw them away. This includes over the counter products as well as prescription medications. It is very easy to confuse similar containers or color or shape of pills. The wrong drug may cause an untoward outcome.

Check for expired dates and discard. Prepare for any type of disaster by having at least a one week supply of all your current medications in your emergency supply bag. This bag should be checked every six months for outdated or discontinued medications.