Prescription mistakes can be dangerous

Each year, more than 1.5 million Americans are injured, made sicker or killed by medication mistakes.  These mistakes include dispensing the wrong prescription, giving the wrong dosage, or providing the wrong instructions.  It is estimated that about three percent of prescriptions filled at pharmacies contain prescription mistakes that may cause harm.

  
Gwen Daley, a school bus driver from Logansville, Georgia was a victim of medication error.  Her prescription antibiotic pills were not marked as unsafe for driving.  Yet, while driving on her school bus route, she was overcome with dizziness and pulled over to radio for help.  She continued to take the pills, and her symptoms got worse.  She was even hospitalized for her nausea, dizziness, headaches and blurred vision, but doctors could not figure out what was wrong.

   
Eventually she noticed that not all the pills in the bottle looked the same.  The bottle had been filled with the prescribed antibiotic Flagyl, but also with a strong antidepressant, Trazadone.  The pills look similar, but Trazadone has intense side effects.

   
Daley is outraged about the mistake.  As a school bus driver she is responsible for safely transporting a bus full of children.  She wonders what would have happened if she’d passed out while driving.  In her case, not only was her life endangered by the mistake, but the lives of her passengers as well.

   
Click here to learn more about pharmacy mistakes, how to prevent them and what you can do if you are the victim of a medication error.

Labels: atlanta injury attorney georgia medical malpractice georgia prescription errors medical mistakes atlanta medication error Personal injury attorney georgia Wrongful Death