What is Medication Error?
Updated January 24, 2026
A preventable mistake in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication that causes harm to a patient.
Understanding Medication Error
Errors include wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong patient, dangerous drug interactions, and failure to monitor. Hospitals, pharmacies, nurses, and doctors can all be liable. Electronic prescribing has reduced but not eliminated these errors.
Examples
- 1Ten times normal dose administered
- 2Drug given despite known allergy
- 3Dangerous interaction between medications
Related Terms
Medical Malpractice
Professional negligence by a healthcare provider whose treatment falls below the accepted standard of care, resulting in injury or death to the patient.
Informed Consent
A patient's agreement to medical treatment after being fully informed of the risks, benefits, alternatives, and potential outcomes.
Misdiagnosis
A medical malpractice claim based on a healthcare provider incorrectly diagnosing a condition, leading to improper treatment or delayed proper treatment.
Surgical Error
A preventable mistake during surgery, such as operating on the wrong body part, leaving instruments inside the patient, or damaging healthy tissue.
Birth Injury
Harm to a baby or mother caused by medical negligence during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or immediately after birth.
For Medical Malpractice cases
The record behind a term like this one is built by the client, not the file.
Quilia asks clients about treatment, appointments and how they are doing, records the answers on the case, and syncs it to Clio, Filevine, MyCase, Neos and more.
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