Some ways to avoid medication errors

Consumer tips for avoiding medication errors, from the Institute of Medicine:

. Maintain a list of prescription and nonprescription drugs, vitamins and other dietary supplements you use. Take that list with you whenever you visit a health care provider.

. Ask your doctor to write down the drug’s name, dose and how to take it. At the pharmacy, make sure those instructions match what’s on the bottle you’re given.

. You can ask both the doctor and pharmacist about side effects and how to use the drug.

. Pharmacies often maintain computer records that can flag drugs that will interact dangerously, if you fill all of your prescriptions at the same place.

. Information leaflets usually come with prescription drugs, but ask the pharmacist for one if you don’t receive it.

. If your pills look different when they’re refilled, don’t assume the maker changed the size or color – ask the pharmacist why. You could have been given the wrong drug or dose.

. At the hospital, ask the doctor and nurse what drugs you’re being given, why and what effects to expect.

. Before surgery, ask whether there are any medicines you should avoid or stop taking beforehand.

. Before hospital discharge, ask for a list of medications you should be taking at home and how to take them.

. In the hospital, you have the right to have a relative or other surrogate present whenever you receive medication and cannot monitor that process yourself.