How to Prevent Medication Errors by Pharmacy Technicians

Medication errors can cause health problems and even lead to death. While pharmacists are required to have extensive education and practice working in a pharmacy before they can become licensed, the pharmacy technicians that assist them are usually required to have only a high school diploma and receive training on the job. This is why it is important that you know how to prevent medication errors by pharmacy technicians.

Instructions

• 1

  Ask your physician questions about your medication. Preventing medication errors by pharmacy technicians actually needs to start when your physician is writing the prescription for you to have filled. Ask the doctor what medication he is prescribing, how to spell it, what it should look like, how often you should take it and what side effects you might have. Write this information down and compare it to the medication you receive from the pharmacy technician.

• 2

  Review your prescription with the pharmacist. Medication errors are not usually done on purpose, but instead occur when pharmacies are rushed to fill a large number of prescriptions. It's easy for confusion to occur when the technician is working with other drugs that have names similar to the one you're receiving. By taking the time to review the medication when it's in your hands, the pharmacist can catch any errors that a technician might have made.

• 3

  Recheck the bottle when you are home. Before you take any of the medication, recheck the information on the bottle to ensure it is correct. Make sure that the pharmacy technician didn't give you the wrong drug or the wrong strength. For example, you might have only gotten drugs that are 10 milligrams when you really need ones that are 50 mg.

• 4

  Check your medication online. Reputable web sites such as RX list or WebMD can be beneficial in checking the medication you received. Each web site not only contains information about specific types of medication, but it also includes a picture of what the correct drug should look like. You can visually compare your medication, although you shouldn't rely on visual checks alone to prevent medication errors by pharmacy technicians.