Posted in News on April 13, 2016
Whether people are prescribed a new prescription or they are picking up a refill, patients in Montana and elsewhere trust that their medical provider prescribed them the appropriate medication and dosage. Moreover, patients being treated at a hospital or being prepped to undergo surgery rely on the expertise of medical professionals when it comes to administering medications when the person is under the doctor’s care. While these steps are often carried out properly and without any mistake, medication errors still remain a concern when it comes to surgeries.
According to a recent study, medication errors occur during surgery roughly 50 percent of the time. This is a startling high rate; however, this study was based primarily on self-reported data from clinicians. Additionally, this rate is also concerning because there is a high potential for medication-related harms to occur when medical mistakes are made. Based on this study, more than one-third of the errors observed caused some form of harm to a patient.
The issue with surgical medication errors occurring is that medication administration during surgery does not go through the same process as medications being ordered for in-patients at a medical facility. For in-patients, the medication needs to be ordered and checked by several providers. This often includes the ordering physician, the pharmacist and the nurse administering the medication. In contrast, during surgery, surgeons and medical professionals need to respond rapidly to the conditions of the patient, not allowing the time to double or triple check.
The study found that roughly one-fifth of the errors were unavoidable, meaning there is much room for improvement in patient safety. While steps are being taken to address this and other medical errors harming patients, these medical errors do cause adverse effects to patients across the nation each year. Therefore, it is important that patients and their loved ones consider the recourses available to them. A medical malpractice lawsuit could provide an injured patient with compensation, helping them cover the expenses and damages related to the harms caused by doctor error.
Source: Bignewsnetwork.com, “Medication error occur in almost 50 pc surgeries, says new report,” Oct. 27, 2015