Medical Mistakes, Pt. 1: Prescription Errors
To err is human; but to err as a medical provider is not tolerated by our society. Medical providers are among the few professions where mistakes - any mistakes - are not really permitted. Doctors, allied health professionals, pharmacists, nurses and others are held to a much higher standard than most other professions.
We all know that humans are not perfect. So, why are we horrified and shocked when imperfect humans, who are providing complex and highly technical care for other imperfect humans, make mistakes? Fortunately for all of us, not all mistakes are deadly.
I have been providing primary medical care for over three decades, yet I remember a time when entire prescriptions were still written in our secret language, Latin. As a matter of fact we still use many Latin abbreviations on our prescriptions today.
Unless your patient was an ancient Roman, they had no idea what they were taking. When new labeling requirements put an end to this archaic madness, my physician partner felt that much of the "magic" of medicine would now be lost to lay people.
Patients would look up their medications and start having all of those listed side effects. Patients would discover that their strong pain medication was just an expensive aspirin. Many medical providers at that time felt that a little knowledge was a dangerous thing, and it was considerably safer to keep patients barefoot and stupid. Something as simple and basic as the proper labeling of medicines caused patients began to hold their medical providers more accountable -- Step One for checks and balances.
The Internet has really changed the way we prescribe -- people want to know what they are taking and why, and it is our responsibility to provide that vital educational component. Patients are no longer mindless sheep reaching out for their mystery prescriptions with hungry hands.
Written prescriptions are quickly becoming a thing of the past in favor of electronically-transmitted ones. Busy practitioners have legionary poor handwriting, but write in their charts and on those pieces of paper that you present to your pharmacist.
Coupled with our use of Latin abbreviations, they are basically unreadable by the average patient, and sometimes unreadable by an experienced pharmacist. Pharmacists spend a great deal of their day calling prescribers to interpret their chicken scratch, or to correct overt written mistakes: Step Two in checks and balances.
There are so many medication names that are similar, but dangerously different. A misplaced decimal point on a dosage could kill someone. Even basic math mistakes require clarification. For example, "Take one tsp TID for 10 days. Disp: 100 ml." TID is Latin for "three times per day". A teaspoon is 5 ml, so why not just write it that way? Besides, if this person is to take the drug for ten days, they would need 150ml., not 100!
A side note: The teaspoon in your utensil drawer is unlikely to be exactly 5ml. Measure it sometime. Unless you use a proper measuring teaspoon (difficult to get in a kid's mouth), the spoon that you use to stir your tea could be 2ml to 7ml - a clear set-up for under-dosing or overdosing. Parents who claim the pharmacist either gave them too much or too little medication most likely measured it incorrectly when administered.
It is not uncommon for a medical provider to mistakenly write a prescription for penicillin or amoxicillin, even when it is known that you are allergic to this class of drugs.
Your medical provider may even ask, "Are you allergic to Augmentin?" The name "Augmentin" gives the uninformed patient no clue that it contains a high dose of amoxicillin, so you may reply that you are not allergic.
At this point, the only check and balance to a potential drug allergy error would be your own research, or the pharmacist. And, the pharmacist ONLY knows if you are allergic to penicillins IF you tell them. People who shop pharmacies to get cheaper drugs may fail to inform them of their drug allergies.
If I treat a patient for a urinary tract infection, I may tell them I am prescribing a sulfa drug called Septra. Because insurance companies mandate that less-expensive generics be substituted unless otherwise specified, the patient will likely to be very confused when they read their prescription bottle at home and it says sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim - the generic name of this drug.
Unless I inform the patient that Septra has a different generic name, they may assume I made a mistake and choose not take it; or assume that the pharmacist gave them someone else's prescription. This is why patients need to listen carefully when the pharmacist (or their own medical provider) offers drug information.
The root of the word "assume" can be broken down to "Make an ASS out of U and ME". In medicine, providers should not assume anything.
We should not assume that people know that a suppository is inserted in the rectum -- I have had patients complain about their taste. We should not even assume that all patients know the suppository must be unwrapped first!
My pharmacist friend once got a complaint that the prescribed suppository did not dissolve - it came out with the foil still on it. He now writes "Unwrap suppository and insert in rectum" as part of the standard instructions. Just like those odd instructions on your blow dryer that warns you not to use it while taking a shower, medical providers often have to be painfully clear with instructions to avoid unintentional errors.
Related Topics: WebMD Video: Cut Hospital Errors: Device Double-Checks Medications, Protect Yourself from Prescription Errors
Technorati Tags: medical mistakes, prescription errors
We all know that humans are not perfect. So, why are we horrified and shocked when imperfect humans, who are providing complex and highly technical care for other imperfect humans, make mistakes? Fortunately for all of us, not all mistakes are deadly.
I have been providing primary medical care for over three decades, yet I remember a time when entire prescriptions were still written in our secret language, Latin. As a matter of fact we still use many Latin abbreviations on our prescriptions today.
Unless your patient was an ancient Roman, they had no idea what they were taking. When new labeling requirements put an end to this archaic madness, my physician partner felt that much of the "magic" of medicine would now be lost to lay people.
Patients would look up their medications and start having all of those listed side effects. Patients would discover that their strong pain medication was just an expensive aspirin. Many medical providers at that time felt that a little knowledge was a dangerous thing, and it was considerably safer to keep patients barefoot and stupid. Something as simple and basic as the proper labeling of medicines caused patients began to hold their medical providers more accountable -- Step One for checks and balances.
The Internet has really changed the way we prescribe -- people want to know what they are taking and why, and it is our responsibility to provide that vital educational component. Patients are no longer mindless sheep reaching out for their mystery prescriptions with hungry hands.
Written prescriptions are quickly becoming a thing of the past in favor of electronically-transmitted ones. Busy practitioners have legionary poor handwriting, but write in their charts and on those pieces of paper that you present to your pharmacist.
Coupled with our use of Latin abbreviations, they are basically unreadable by the average patient, and sometimes unreadable by an experienced pharmacist. Pharmacists spend a great deal of their day calling prescribers to interpret their chicken scratch, or to correct overt written mistakes: Step Two in checks and balances.
There are so many medication names that are similar, but dangerously different. A misplaced decimal point on a dosage could kill someone. Even basic math mistakes require clarification. For example, "Take one tsp TID for 10 days. Disp: 100 ml." TID is Latin for "three times per day". A teaspoon is 5 ml, so why not just write it that way? Besides, if this person is to take the drug for ten days, they would need 150ml., not 100!
A side note: The teaspoon in your utensil drawer is unlikely to be exactly 5ml. Measure it sometime. Unless you use a proper measuring teaspoon (difficult to get in a kid's mouth), the spoon that you use to stir your tea could be 2ml to 7ml - a clear set-up for under-dosing or overdosing. Parents who claim the pharmacist either gave them too much or too little medication most likely measured it incorrectly when administered.
It is not uncommon for a medical provider to mistakenly write a prescription for penicillin or amoxicillin, even when it is known that you are allergic to this class of drugs.
Your medical provider may even ask, "Are you allergic to Augmentin?" The name "Augmentin" gives the uninformed patient no clue that it contains a high dose of amoxicillin, so you may reply that you are not allergic.
At this point, the only check and balance to a potential drug allergy error would be your own research, or the pharmacist. And, the pharmacist ONLY knows if you are allergic to penicillins IF you tell them. People who shop pharmacies to get cheaper drugs may fail to inform them of their drug allergies.
If I treat a patient for a urinary tract infection, I may tell them I am prescribing a sulfa drug called Septra. Because insurance companies mandate that less-expensive generics be substituted unless otherwise specified, the patient will likely to be very confused when they read their prescription bottle at home and it says sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim - the generic name of this drug.
Unless I inform the patient that Septra has a different generic name, they may assume I made a mistake and choose not take it; or assume that the pharmacist gave them someone else's prescription. This is why patients need to listen carefully when the pharmacist (or their own medical provider) offers drug information.
The root of the word "assume" can be broken down to "Make an ASS out of U and ME". In medicine, providers should not assume anything.
We should not assume that people know that a suppository is inserted in the rectum -- I have had patients complain about their taste. We should not even assume that all patients know the suppository must be unwrapped first!
My pharmacist friend once got a complaint that the prescribed suppository did not dissolve - it came out with the foil still on it. He now writes "Unwrap suppository and insert in rectum" as part of the standard instructions. Just like those odd instructions on your blow dryer that warns you not to use it while taking a shower, medical providers often have to be painfully clear with instructions to avoid unintentional errors.
Related Topics: WebMD Video: Cut Hospital Errors: Device Double-Checks Medications, Protect Yourself from Prescription Errors
Technorati Tags: medical mistakes, prescription errors
38 Comments:
People eating suppositories is hilarious.
It's kind of funny that you mention amoxicillin and augmentin. I've been on both the last few months (but not at the same time). My dermatologist never mentioned that augmentin has amoxicillin in it, but since I never had an adverse reaction amoxicillin I guess it's OK.
I am 25 and I always when getting a new perscripton will attempt to read it and if I can't I will ask my doctor what it says. I know when leaving the office how many times a day I am suppose to take the medication and how much etc. Then when I pick up the persciption I check the directions on the container. Never had a problem with it being wrong. I think patients need to be more pro-active and know what they are given.
I would like to add a comment on this subject speaking from the position of experience in the health field. Many times untrained physician office personnel will contribute to a bad situation by mispronouncing a drug name or incorrectly reciting instructions from the doctor that they do not fully understand. There is a gap in education from the doctor to the pharmacist to the nurse and so on down the line. Each person that is higher on the pecking order assumes that the person they relay an order to fully understands the message. That is not always the case and especially in a busy doctor's office where he/she may be called away for an emergency and may return to his patients in his office 2 or 3 hours later. The same goes for a busy pharmacy or a busy nursing situation.
As long as people are imperfect then mistakes will happen. The only thing people can do is to constantly be vigilant and let another person check their work on critical orders.
There is no excuse for a physician to write an illegible prescription or to have uneducated or untrained staff calling in orders or authorizing refills. This type of practice shows disregard to the patient's health and ultimately to the patient as an individual.
I've worked in a pharmacy for 27 years and I can remember that one time a local G.P. went on holiday and left his car to be serviced with written instructions the mechanic came to my then pharmacist for a 'translation'
pregnant woman who was on birth controle very upset that it did not work. When asked if she was taking by mouth, she said " why on earth would I put it in my mouth?" Assumption IS a necessary evil, assume all patients are in need of explination.
I remember that when I had surgery for a hernia repair, the surgeon wrote me a perscription for a strong pain medicine. He didn't tell me that this would severely constipate me for three days(no bm for 3 days). ALWAYS ask your doctor for dietary and post-op concerns.
I had surgery a few weeks ago and although it isn't a prescribed drug, I'm alergic to alcohol. The nurses had bright red wristbands and stickers all over my chart and on me. At the end of the whole ordeal, I still ended up with an alcohol rash.
I'm allergic to latex and penicillin - even the "great great grandchildren of penicillin."
Imagine the horror my husband and I experienced as we questioned a nurse who was about to connect an antibiotic to my IV during DS's birth. He asked what was in it. The freak out that followed left that poor nurse rattled to say the least. And the OB in question didn't even bother to look at my chart, let alone my bracelet that I was wearing that said "LATEX, PENICILLIN." Nor did the nurse.
Microseconds away from being killed and saved only because we dared to question what was being given. If patients don't ask questions, then how can they be an active part of their care?
Lipitor can cause serious weigt gain. This is a supposidly rare side effect. Why is it never listed as such on presciption inserts. Also not listed as a side effect on your web page.
I take liptor and i have gained weight so what is up with the side effects and other directions
I never had a pharmacy make a mistake but had a dr tell me 3x that i wasnt allergic to cephalexin even though my hands and feet swelled up like sausages. He kept telling me that it was a side effect of the steroid they gave me. I found out for sure the next day when i filled my rx and took one just to have it happen again. I went back to the hospital and ended up with the same dr and told him what happened, he saqid i needed professional help and they could treat munchausens. All i wanted was a different rx so i could get rid of my tonsilitis. I would not take the cephalexin again and he didnt give me another rx. I ended up there again with 104 fever but luckily i got another dr. I told him i was allergic to cephalexin and he said he write me another rx for augmentin. He came back in the room and asked how did i know i was allergic and so i told him what happened after i got the shot and the next day after i took a dose. He said yeah i was allergic and was standing there shaking his head like he was confused. He laid my chart down on the counter and someone knocked on the door. I happened to glance at it and that other dr had wrote in my chart that i was a munchausen case and he didnt note what symptoms i had experienced or of the possibility i was allergic to it. I was pissed and filed a complaint against him. Needless to say he was let go for similar complaints and writing comments in charts that were his own personal opinion not fact.
I`m allergic to ALTACE. I suffered for nealy a uear with what seemed to the world`s worst case of sinusitis, postnasal drip etc. It got so bad I was couln`t give a complete oral presentation anymore.Not being able to speak is a real handicap when your`e in sales.
One day the doctor told me to stop taking ALTACE. Within a week, my symptoms stopped.
Nine years later, I had a new doctor who wanted me to take ALTACE
again for my blood pressure. I politely told him I was allergic to it. He said "that was years ago, how do you know you are still allergic to it ? Maybe you should give it another try. "
It was at that point I decided this guy wasn`t the right doctor for me!
Now when I see that has-been golfer shilling for ALTACE on television, I think "I hope some day he`ll get the punishment he deserves, that SOB! "
I just got back from the pharmacy where they filled a chemo-therapy tablet that should have been labeled take 10 pills once a week. Instead they wrote take 10 pills every morning. I've been on this med for awhile and knew better, but I returned it to show them the error and get it labeled correctly. The same pharmacy just filled a med for my daughter that should have been 2.5mg of a heart med. and they handed it to me and I noticed that it had been filled with 10mg to be taken 3 times daily. So 2 serious mistakes in a week!
I had another where the dr told me he was writing the Rx for 250mg, and I filled it and took it according to directions. When I saw him again, he told me to increase to 4 pills, 4 times daily, and wrote a new Rx for that increase. When I picked up the new Rx, the pills were different. I asked for a copy of the lst Rx, the dr had said 250mg and written 500mg. I had been taking 4500mg of a med that he wanted me to 'work up to' 4000mg over a period of weeks.
Drs mess up. Pharmacies mess up.
I've learned to make a photo-copy of all written prescriptions before turning them in to the pharmacy, and to always Ask if in doubt about anything. My daughter could have gone into cardiac arrest, and I could have died. And that's the 'best' pharmacy in our town.
Hi i have been taking paxil for about 4 years now along with ibuprophen 800mg for the same time, i have been to the doctors wondering why i was always so tired i couldnt get out of bed my complextion is pale i have dark circles under my eyes and i ended up with strep b well i looked up both meds to see if there were any interactions between the 2 and there is and its not good it has a bad reaction to bleeding, low platelets, low immune system and is says patient should be aware of interaction symptoms of the bleeding on what to do for 4 years i was never informed of this interaction ive had 2 misscarriges i dont know if that has anything to do with it but i basically could of bleed internally, i did hemmerage a week after i gave birth to my son, i feel i lost 4 years of my life because i have been in a depression for so long because noone could tell me what was wrong with me. now i know and its only because i did my own research i cant wait to talk to my doctor on monday any little thing like asprin with a med can be lifethreatning please check all your meds to see if there is any interactions.
thanks
last month my pcd put me in the hospital for a barium swoolow. the specialist came in and confirmed this with me. i started getting laxatives enems, etc. the nurse walks in with banana flavored barium. i am allergic to banans. as she is looking for another type the specilist parner has a colonoscopy performed on me. al the while i am telling them this is the wrong test. they anesthesied me to shut me up and did the test. they brought me back to the room and informed me they told my docotr i was uncooperative. he gives orders to send me home. they remove the iv. by time he gets in and reads the chart and realizes the mistake, he asks me why i let them do the colonoscopy and remove the iv, he wanted a barium swollow. he asks me to stay another day for it itold him i will go to another hospital. moral: i am getting a new doctor and the hospital has called me twice since to inform me i am scheduled for a colonoscopy. if i had notbeen in the medical field i would not have known the mistake. i'm glad it wasn't my kidneys.
The reason why medical mistakes should not be tolerated is because it might likely result in a patient getting worse or even death.
The airline industry has similar high standards. Engineers can get fired on the spot for even a trivial mistake. The medical profession is NOT held to a higher standard.
I was prescriped TOPAMAX and boy was it great. My husband called it the bimbo drug. I lost weight because I didn't care to eat, but I got really stupid. When I realised that I could not find the billing information for clients at work (that was always in the same place) I asked my pharmacist about memory loss. He looked it up and said yes, it was listed way at the bottom in his medicine book. I found that I new my multiplication tables but not my addition. I new how to add but remembered numbers were not there. I regained most of my skills, but somethings are still just not there. Talking to others who have been on this medicine for any length of time and they had similar problems. I was only on it for 3 months.
One time my pharmacist gave me 100mg pills of Elavil instead of 10mg pills. I just thought it was a new version of the drug. Instead of taking 40mg of Elavil, I took 400mg of Elavil. I woke up 2 days later in the hospital. People have died on 200mg of Elavil. I am very lucky. My pharmacist was an old family and took responsiblity of the problem, then he took me aside, hugged me, and chewed me out. He said,"Always check your medicines before you take them and if they look different call me and check. Never take them if you they look different without checking with your pharmacist." Needless to say, I learned a very valuable lesson. Always talk to your doctors and pharmacists about your medicines. Always ask questions. You also need that check and balance of your primary care physician, your specialist, and your pharmacist (who is your last chance to make sure your medicines are right and work well together).
Back in 2003, a doctor diagnosed me with chronic asthma. Needless to say, I had bronchitis. She injected me with a dose of steroids, and sent me on my way. That was the beginning of my nightmare. My legs had become scared and my whole way of life had been changed. I wasn't able to take a prescription to my pharmacist or have enough time to do research on what medications I was given. I am now very careful on what goes into my body, even if it is a doctor giving it to me. Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for all doctors. But please give the patient the common respect and do the research before saying it is one thing when it actually isn't!
I have grown up my weight after taking lipitor too..
And as my doctor says i can't take phentermine =(
I'm allergic to sulfate!
I went to my doctor with a sinus infection.( Now mind you-these are the doctors that took over my long time doctor of 23 years that retired and knew every thing about me!)The first medication took care of my sinus infection good,but weeks later it came back.I called the doctor, they called back and changed me to a different antibiotic.I looked up this antibiotic they changed. I wanted to see what the side effects were - I did not see " SULFATE ",if I had, I surely would have called the doctor and told Her " Did you look at my chart to see if I was even allergic to anything! The Doctor , nor the staff didn't even ask " do you have allergies to anything " With that, I thought they knew what they were perscribing for me in confedience.I took the new antibiotic for 4 1/2 days, instead of my sinus infection getting better, it was worse and I mean full blown swollen cheeks,nose underneath eyes, sides of nose cracked open and draining - rash developed on the right side on my face.This cost me 2 days of work! And feeling sick and depressed.Of corse I ended back at the doctors. Never stating how sorry they were they didn't look at my chart! EVEN WHEN THEY HAD THE DARN CHART IN THERE HAND AS THEY WERE LOOKING AT ME THE FIRST TIME! We're going to have to give you a shot of Steroid and a perscripton for steroids to be taken my mouth.( Oh Yeah, they wrote off the shot and took 20 bucks off the bill).At that moment,I wanted my old doctor back so bad. I cried mu eyes out while driving home.I INTEND TO HUNT FOR A DOCTOR/FAMILY PRATICE I WILL BE ABLE TO TRUST.With this I will my story, I have to go and take a picture of how my face looks,incase matters get worse.
My husband had cataract surgery a few years ago. After the surgery, he was so out of it he asked for his glasses (which he was wearing). He did have the presense of mind to tell the nurse to be sure not to give him any sulfa drugs as he is allergic to them. She said oh of course not. So what do you know, she puts sulfa drops in his eye! The next time we put them in his eye, he had an IMMEDIATE asthma attack. I had to peel off the hospital's label to see what was in the drops - as the nurse conveniently threw out ALL the package inserts. When my husband called the idiot dr. he was told to return the drops to the office because they had other complaints about that batch, completely ignoring the fact that he's ALLERGIC to sulfa!
I just had surgery and spent 1 night in the hospital. It was noted on chart of allergy to penicillin-since child and allergy to morphine discovered in recovery room. Came home to have awful rash on left side spreading daily. Drs. office thought from meds taken after release. Pretty sure from meds in hospital (severe itching on back of head while there-thought reaction to pillowcase-detergents/disinfectant) and have attempted but have yet to get records from hospital for 4 days. What are the PATIENTS RIGHTS?? Anyone out there know???
I have been taking Lipitor for about 8 years.And resently I have had muscle pain in both my thighs. And every time I tell my doctor about having any kind of muscle or joint pain and ask him if its caused by Lipitor. He says no.the muscle pain would have started as soon as I first took this medication, not after a long period of time.I think he is wrong.
overpaid guessers
My doctor as well retired. I got stuck with a real gem!!! I went in for my first ever sinus infection. She prescibed me cephlexin. The sinus infection did not clear up completely, but almost. I ended up getting a bladder infection. I went back (oh and did I mention that I am deliberately uninsured, so I pay out of pocket. First visit $100, second visit $68 plus $150 for lab tests.)and told her that I think that the medicine caused it. She said, oh I know it did. She prescibes me bactrim (which I asked for) and I left. I found out after that it was only for 5 days. 2 weeks later, guess what is back!!! So I call the office because this sinus infection has now cost me $350 with meds. I told them I would not come in and be charged another visit. The doctor calls me back and starts asking me if I have changed sexual partners (married 15 yrs.) or if it is vaginal. Much like when i went for the first bladder infection. I again said no and told her that she did not give me enough medicine. She disagreed. The ironic part of the whole thing was, she said that she sees in my chart that I am prone to kidney infections. And why do I think I am having this problem now. I said, because you gave me medicine that causes bladder infections, then gave me medicine for half the time you should have. That's why. She rejected that as well. Finally she said she would prescibe bactim for ten days to make me feel better. But if it occured again,I would have to come in. The moral here is two-fold. One, I wouldn't see her if my life depended on it. Two- drop a doctor if they have the god complex... you know, when they know your body better than you do. By the way, I had a kidney infection, not a bladder infection. and she even asked me why I kept calling it a kidney infection because she tested me for it by tapping my ribs in the back. THAT is NOT how you check, as I told her when she did it. You tap on the kidney. Sorry, I'm not a doctor, but the kidney specialist who performed that test years before on me, was.
Will someone tell me if/what the drug interactions of lexapro and phentermine are. I take lexapro for anxiety and have taken phentermine in the past and need them again. What do you suggest for weight loss if anything with lexapro.
I just wanted to comment on the astoundingly low level of literacy from many the commentators here. I am a teacher, from a family of teachers, and for the first time in my life I am afraid for our country's future. Here are adults, supposedly, trying to communicate with each other, through a virtual message board...and I can barely read what's written here. Sadly, many of these entries are done with bad English, misspelled words and incorrect subject/verb choice. My God! Do any of our young adults know how to communicate in written form? And what does this lack of literacy bode for our future as a people? You guys should go back to school or get a GED...or something! We are one of the most powerful nations in the world, and our young adults can't even express themselves as well as some of my third graders? COME ON YOU GUYS! There is something seriously wrong here! Are we headed back into the dark ages or what?
Dear Anonymous, who in the world are you to judge anyone? Many people "blog" without regard to capitalization, tense, etc. It can be distracting to read, but it doesn't automatically signal sure "ignorance". We all can't be as perfect as you seem to think you are, but then again, this blog is not about correct spelling and grammar and subject/verb agreement. This comment section is about prescription drugs. I would assume that the people posting here are likely of all ages, not the "young adults" you lament about in your rant. Have a nice day.
It seems to me that if the teachers were doing the job that they are "educated" to do; then we would not have so many people here with a low literacy level.
I am astounded that you are not listening to the problems on this site. Apparently you can not help grading papers, even in your spare time.
So...my advise to you....make sure you educate those third graders!! I am sure since they have such a consciencous teacher as you that they will surely grow up to be intelligent and literate students. Have a great day.
Thankfully, I don't have any horror stories regarding prescription drugs but appreciate the information that others have shared as it provokes me to be more thoughtful in the future. Additionally, I must say that I agree with the teacher. Everyone here is blogging about holding physicians and/or pharmacists to a higher standard and yet some here fail to realize that they are not holding themselves to a higher standard. How hypocritical are we when we demand proper and correct written communication from physicians but not from ourselves? When someone doesn't take the time to use accurate capitalization and punctuation or proper sentence structure, they are viewed to be as inept as these doctors and pharmacists (whether they like it or not). Are our mistakes potentially life threatening? Probably not, however, is that what is required for one to care about their communication skills? As an business owner, I would not hire someone without said skills. Education is the responsibility of the individual. (Doctors and blue collar workers alike). Some teachers are better than others making it easier to learn, however, to be literate and competent is our own personal responsibility... especially as we become adults. I dare anyone to blame a "teacher" for the mistakes of the physicians and pharmacists noted here.
I too, agree with the teacher and Existential relativity. Good communication skills are everyones responsibilty. However, that aside, some posts have been educational.
I just turned 60,and in the last couple years I have gainned about 50lbs. 270 to 320 to be exact. In the last year I have suffered from coughing up green mucus mainly in the middle of sleeping, or upon wakeing up. I had a throat specialist put a camera down my nose an into my throat and he said I look great. Well, for another $240.00 I guess I should go back to him cause it's been 6 months and still have the problem. I take Lipitor, Zestril, and prevacid. He saids it's acid reflux, but I have never had indigestion or vomiting in my sleep in 8 years since being on Prevacid. Anyway I am now dieting and hopeing to lose the weight I gainned and maybe the mucus problem will end. Has anyone reading this ever have a coughing up mucus problem coupled with extensive sinus reactions after wakeing up from sleeping. Thanks for anybodys advice,and have a happy New Year! and may God Bless our troops !!!!!! Greg
could anybody please tell me if the antibiotic trimethoprim contains any for of penicillin? as i have been prescribed them but am allergic to penicillin and i read that pencillin contain trimethoprim so i dont know if its the same the other way around...if u can help me asap i would b very grateful as i must start taking them...thankyou
This is for Georgie and others who have questions about their medical health and medications they are taking. Here are some sights to go to that might help you. You can look up your medicines by brand or generic, it will tell you who manufactures it, side effects, strenths. You can print it off and take it to your pharmacist and have them explain it to you. You should get a drug pamplet with your medicine at the time you pick them up. www.prescibingreferences.com
www.nlm.nih.gov (National Library of Medicine) (National Institute of health) and Merck Manual of Medical Information Home Edition in everyday language 2nd edition, can get at any bookstore. Hope it helps. Good Luck
i have bipolar disorder and am prescribed 200 mg of lamictal once daily and am prescribed 100 mg of seroquel once daily, can i take 875mg of amoxicillin once daily for sinisitus?
I have to respond to the "teacher" about illiteracy, who wrote, and I quote, "from many the commentators". You missed the of. My point exactly. I used to get upset with the errors printed on the web. I often would email the publisher of a page with mistakes. But I found most people not only don't notice, they don't care. You need to realize when people type emotionally they will make mistakes. And not all people are good at typing in the first place. I hope you have more patience with you child students. My mother, who was una maestra, told me that not every one could be as intelligent and gifted as me and that I should use my gifts to help them with loving compassion, patience and gentle guidance. Give it a try, it could help lower your blood pressure! It may even help you to stop writing run on sentences.
I am severely allergic to penicillin. I was being prepped for gallbladder surgery and the surgeon decides that since I wasn't given any antibiotics the week before surgery, that he should give me a shot of penicillin--right before surgery!! I objected, but being distracted by what was going on at the moment, he slipped up and gave me a shot anyway. I immediately came unglued to say the least and my husband was called in to calm me down. He promptly and angrily told everyone within hearing range that I was extremely allergic to penicillin! The surgeon was called back in and he gave me a huge shot of benadryl and found me a nebulizer to give me a breathing treatment. Thankfully the surgery was successful and I survived! Now I know to not only bring someone with me that can be an advocate for me in case I can't, but to also explain to that person all about any allergies, etc.
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