When you pick up a prescription, you expect it to be right. But pharmacy errors, mistakes in dispensing, labeling, or advising on medication. Also known as medication errors, they happen more often than most people realize—and they’re not always the pharmacist’s fault. These errors include giving the wrong drug, the wrong dose, the wrong instructions, or failing to catch dangerous interactions. Sometimes it’s a mix-up in similar-looking pill names. Other times, it’s a computer glitch, a rushed refill, or a doctor’s unclear handwriting. The result? Hospital visits, allergic reactions, or even death.
Drug interactions, when two or more medications react badly together are a major cause of pharmacy errors. For example, combining blood thinners with certain antibiotics or NSAIDs can lead to dangerous bleeding. Prescription errors, mistakes made when a doctor writes or sends a prescription often get passed down to the pharmacy. A patient might get omeprazole instead of a different acid reducer, or be given a steroid taper schedule that’s too fast, risking adrenal crisis. Even something as simple as misreading "5 mg" as "50 mg" can be deadly.
These aren’t rare edge cases. Studies show that over 1.5 million people in the U.S. are harmed by medication errors every year. Many of these could have been avoided with better communication, double-checking systems, or even just a patient asking one simple question: "Is this what my doctor ordered?" The pharmacy errors you’ll find covered in these articles don’t just talk about what went wrong—they show you how to spot the red flags before it’s too late. From how fluoroquinolones and steroids can trigger tendon rupture to why combining sedatives can shut down your breathing, the posts here give you real, practical ways to protect yourself. You’ll learn how to verify your meds using trusted drug databases, recognize when a dosage seems off, and understand why certain combinations are dangerous—before you swallow that pill.
