Medication Safety 101: Common Mistakes and Prevention Tips

Taking too much medication

Sometimes you can forget if you took a dose of your medication and accidentally take an extra dose. If measurements are not done correctly, this can also happen when giving children oral liquid medications.

Taking too much of a medication may raise your risk for harmful effects or overdose. Once you notice that you took too much of a medication, it’s important not to panic.

What to do

Talk with your doctor right away if you believe you’ve accidentally taken too much of your medication. They can recommend next steps and let you know about symptoms, such as trouble breathing or convulsions, to watch out for.

Another option is to call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 or use its online tool. If you have severe symptoms, immediately call 911 or your local emergency number or go to the nearest emergency room. With quick treatment, you can reduce your risk of serious effects.

Ways to prevent

It may be helpful to use medication reminders, such as phone apps, alarms, or pill organizers, to track whether you’ve taken your dose each day.

You can also talk with your doctor or pharmacist if you are having trouble managing multiple medications or dosing schedules. They can review your medications and help you set up the best treatment plan.

For children, there are multiple forms of medications, all of which have their own safety considerations. For oral liquids, it is best to use the oral syringe, dropper, or dosing cup that came with the specific medication bottle.

Take the wrong medication

This may happen if you take someone else’s prescription medication by mistake. You may also accidentally take a dose of a medication that you are no longer supposed to be taking.

What to do

If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important that you call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 for advice on whether you need to go to the emergency room.

Be sure to have a list of all your current medications so they can check for potential drug interactions with the medication you took by mistake.

Call 911 or your local emergency number if you start noticing signs of distress, such as:

• difficulty breathing
• trouble staying awake
• swelling of the lips or tongue
• rapidly spreading rash
• impaired speech

Ways to prevent

To prevent taking the wrong medication, many drug labels will describe what your pill should look like. If you’re not sure, you should check. All pills have a drug marking as well as a unique size, shape, and color.

It is also important to store medications properly and get rid of any medications you are no longer taking. Here are some more tips about storing medications safely:

• Store medications high up and out of sight, even if you don’t have children of your own. If guests bring over children, they might find the medications if they’re easily accessible.
• Don’t remove the label under any circumstances.
• Don’t move the medications to another container unless you’ve been properly instructed on how to use a pill sorter.
• If you have multiple people living in your household, store each person’s medications separately, or color-code the medications to avoid confusion.

Taking a dangerous combination of medication

Taking the wrong combination of medications can lead to drug interactions. Some drug interactions can cause serious reactions.

This can happen if you start a new medication and your doctor and pharmacist aren’t aware of all the medications you are taking. Drug interactions can also occur with over-the-counter medications, supplements, and foods, such as grapefruit.

What to do

Talk with your doctor or pharmacist if you think you’ve taken medications that may interact with each other.

If you are experiencing side effects after taking the medication, call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 or use its online tool. If you have severe symptoms, immediately call 911 or your local emergency number or go to the nearest emergency room.

Ways to prevent

Be sure to talk with your doctor and pharmacist about all the medications you are taking. This can help prevent drug interactions.

Taking expired medication

The expiration date is the latest date that a drug manufacturer guarantees the drug’s safety and effectiveness.

In most cases, there’s no need to panic if you take an expired medication — but there are a few safety concerns to be aware of. For example, expired medications are at a higher risk of bacterial contamination. Some medications can become toxic after they expire.

There’s also a small chance the medication is no longer effective. Expired antibiotics can fail to treat infections, leading to more serious infections and antibiotic resistance.

What to do

If you take an expired medication, talk with your doctor. They can recommend the best next steps and discuss what symptoms to watch out for. They can also help you get medications refills for drugs you are still taking.

If you are experiencing life threatening symptoms after taking an expired medication, call 911 or your local emergency number right away.

Ways to prevent

The best way to prevent taking expired medication is to dispose of any expired medication.

Ways to dispose your medication

• Throw them in the trash.
• Flush them down the toilet.
• Return the medication to a local pharmacy.
• Bring the expired medication to a local hazardous waste collection facility or local fire department or police station.
• Attend a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

Read more: Learn about safely disposing medications

Taking a medication you’re allergic to

In some cases, you may not know you have a drug allergy. This may only come up after you take a medication for the first time. You may also have forgotten the reactions you had as a child.

What to do

If you start getting a rash, hives, or start vomiting after taking a medication, contact your doctor right away.

If you have trouble breathing or swelling in your lips or throat, call 911 or your local emergency number or head to the emergency room immediately.

Ways to prevent

Always tell your doctor and pharmacist about any allergies you have, even if the reaction occurred a long time ago. This can help them flag any potential drug allergies with new treatments.

Summary

The best advice for medication safety is to read the label and talk with your pharmacist and doctor. Medications are generally safe when used as prescribed or as directed by the label, but mistakes can still happen.