Medication Mistakes Are Common And DeadlyPosting Date: 06/13/2005 To prevent such dangerous medication misadventures, every patient must guard against mistakes. Instead of grabbing your prescription bag and heading out of the drugstore as fast as possible, take a moment to read the label and examine your pills. If it is a medicine you take regularly, ask the pharmacist about any change in the appearance of the pills. It helps to have the label indicate the use of the medicine. One pharmacist told us this story: ?A patient picked up his medications and returned immediately from the parking lot. He objected, ?This bottle says to take 1 teaspoonful 4 times a day for cough. I don't have a cough.?? It turned out the customer?s prescription was meant for someone else. Being an alert patient, whether in the hospital or in the community drugstore, could save your life. * * * Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist. Teresa Graedon holds a doctorate in medical anthropology and is a nutrition expert. Their syndicated radio show can be heard on public radio. In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.org. 2005 King Features Syndicate, Inc. Related Stories |
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