Wrong medication claims

The report found that prescription errors are relatively common – “1 in 20 has an error”  – but that they are usually minor.

The main findings of the study are outlined below:

• 1 in 20 prescription items was associated with a prescribing or monitoring error
• 1 in 550 prescription items was associated with a severe error
• 1 in 8 of all patients had a prescription with an error
• 4 in 10 patients aged 75 years or older had a prescription with an error
• 30% of prescribing errors involved “incomplete information on the prescription”
• 18% of prescribing errors involved dose or strength errors
• 11% of prescribing errors involved incorrect timing of doses
• The most common type of monitoring error was “failure to request monitoring” (69%)
• 42% of errors were judged to be minor, 54% were considered moderate, and 4% severe

In most cases the errors had negligible consequences but in some cases (4%) had the potential to cause very serious harm.

If you think you have a wrong medication claim, we’ll be happy to advise you on the best course of action, and answer any questions you may have, whether that’s about what evidence is required, or how much compensation is typical for wrong medication.