How To Prevent Scary Medication Mistakes

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When I worked as an RN at the senior living community, I sometimes helped admit new residents to the nursing home. We asked residents to bring in the medications they were taking at home, which occasionally led to scary discoveries.

We often found that people weren’t taking their medications correctly. Sadly, this sometimes led to the medical problems that brought them to the hospital or the nursing home.

Today I’m sharing several of the most common medication mistakes we saw. We’ll also look at what we can do to prevent this from happening to our own loved ones.

Sharing medications

Occasionally, we saw a resident come into the nursing home with medications prescribed for their spouse. I saw this most often with antibiotics. For example, the husband received an antibiotic for a respiratory infection but didn’t finish the series. When the wife came down with bladder infection symptoms, she started taking her husband’s leftover antibiotics.

The problem here is that different antibiotics work for different infections. Using someone else’s medication could delay necessary treatment and lead to undesirable side effects.

Not following directions

Some medications need to be taken with food or without food, or at a specific time of day to be effective or to avoid unpleasant side effects. For example, a medication might cause insomnia, so the physician prescribes it for the morning. If the person takes the med at bedtime for whatever reason, it could interfere with their sleep.

Another example is a medication that the patient shouldn’t chew or crush. Doing this may cause the medication to release into the system too quickly, or it may cause troublesome side effects.

Taking the wrong dose

If one pill helps, then two will work even better, right? I’ve seen this most often with pain medications. The prescribed dose helps but doesn’t completely eliminate the problem, so the person takes an extra pill. What they don’t realize is that this additional medication may cause dangerous side effects.

On the flip side, I’ve seen people cut pills in half or take fewer doses than the medical provider ordered. Usually, this happens when someone is trying to save money. This action could cause poor control of the medical condition, which often costs much more in the long run.

Another factor may be forgetfulness. The person doesn’t remember whether they took their medications, so they end up taking extra doses. Or they forget to take their meds altogether.

Not finishing a prescription

We find this most often with antibiotics. The person feels better, so they decide they no longer need the medication.

Unfortunately, not taking the entire series of an antibiotic increases the chances of creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Then the person’s body will have a harder time fighting future infections. It could also lead to a relapse if the infection didn’t completely resolve.

Using expired medications

While many medications may be perfectly safe to take past the expiration date printed on the packaging, some are not. Certain drugs lose their potency as they age; insulin is a good example. Injecting expired insulin could lead to unstable blood glucose levels.

Another danger is the potential for bacterial growth in old liquid medications. For example, using expired eye drops could lead to an eye infection.

Taking too many medications

Thankfully, this is becoming less common with today’s computerized medical records. But it could still happen.

We usually see this problem when an individual goes to more than one medical provider, and the providers aren’t aware of all the medications the person is taking. The patient could end up with more medications than they need and risk dangerous medication interactions.

Inappropriate use of herbal supplements

One of our residents saw an ad for what they touted as an oxygen supplement that he could order through the mail. According to the advertisement, today’s air pollution prevents us from getting enough oxygen from the air. Therefore, we need to take oxygen in pill form.

Sounds bizarre, right? Well, this gentleman fell for it. Fortunately, according to the label, these pills contained nothing harmful— other than the potential to drain his checking account!

Some herbal supplements coming from these scam sites contain potentially dangerous ingredients. They could also interfere with prescription medications the person uses.

Even legitimate supplements might cause harm if taken with certain medications. That’s why it’s so essential for our medical providers and pharmacists to be aware of everything we use.

So, how do these mistakes happen?

• Desire to save money
• Misunderstanding of instructions given by the medical provider or pharmacist
• Cognitive losses
• Visual impairments
• Lack of knowledge about their medical condition

What can we do to help?

If you have a family member at risk for making medication mistakes, I hope you’ll find a time to help them go through all of their meds and assure they are taking them correctly. These are a few more tips to consider:

• Request a free meeting with their pharmacist. Bring in all the medications they have at home, and the pharmacist will look for potential problems. They can also answer questions and provide valuable education.
• A variety of medication dispensers are available on the market. These provide reminders for your loved one to take their meds at the right times. They also allow you to double-check that they have taken the meds.
• Be sure your family member brings their medications (or a detailed list of their meds) to all clinic appointments. They need to include over-the-counter meds and any herbal supplements, too.
• Many resources can help older adults afford their prescriptions. This article from Medicare.gov describes several options.
• Get rid of expired and unused medications so your loved one doesn’t accidentally take them. The FDA offers helpful advice on proper disposal.

 

Now it’s your turn! What scary medication mistakes have you encountered? Please let us know in the comment section.