Medicines work only if they are prescribed and taken correctly, but human error too often enters into the mix: According to a report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 1.5 million people are injured by medication errors each year in the United States.
Many mistakes occur in the hospital when doctors prescribe a medication and dosage, and the patient is given the wrong drug or the right drug but the wrong dosage. Many errors also occur in your own home and are easily preventable. Are you making any of the following mistakes?
1. Taking the Wrong Dosage
Double-check your doctor's prescription orders and make sure the pharmacist interprets them correctly. A misplaced decimal can increase the dosage from 1 mcg to 10 mg, and the difference between a microgram (mcg) and a milligram (mg) is 1,000 percent. A mix-up can be fatal. In liquid medications, such as cough medicines, don't mistake a teaspoon for a tablespoon.
