There are numerous ways that an error can occur in medical treatment. Here are some preventive measures

1. Self-treatment mistakes:

Mistakes are very commonly when a patient tries to treat him/her self. Always professional medical advice should be sought.

2. Wrong condition treated:

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Wrong condition treated i.e., from a misdiagnosis of the condition.

3. Wrong choice of treatment plan:

The overall strategy used to treat condition might not be the best one.

4. Wrong type of treatment given.

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5. Delayed treatment:

There must not be an undesirable delay in treatment, by choice or through non-diagnosis.

6. Wrongly performed procedures:

All medical events such as surgeries and tests performed wrongly can make things worse.

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7. Wrong medications.

Prevention Mistakes:

The failure to prevent a condition is another type of medical failing. In certain cases, it is clear that preventive actions should be taken and failure to do so is a medical mistake.

1. Failure to prevent known complications of a diagnosed disease.

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2. Failure to treat family members or others exposed to an infectious disease.

3. Failure to address clear risk factors for various conditions.

Surgery Mistakes:

Surgical procedures are often complex and subject to various errors. Administration of surgery can also lead to errors. In some cases, there are known complications or risks of surgery that are often unavoidable.

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1. Surgery administration mistakes: wrong-patient, wrong-site, wrong-organ, equipment left inside.

2. Surgical mistakes: the surgeon might make a wrong cut or other mistake.

3. Anesthesia mistakes: too much, too little (waking up) cmplications from surgery.

4. Infections from surgery: called iatrogenic infections.

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5. Wrong blood type transfusion.

Hospital Mistakes:

A hospital can make errors in any of its varied activities. There are many staff who can make human mistakes and overall system problems can also lead to errors.

1. Hospital-caused infections: called nosocomial infections.

2. Medication errors in hospitals: ordered medication not given, wrong medication, wrong dosage, wrong combinations, wrong patient given medication, and so on.

3. Wrong procedures: failure to do ordered tests, wrong procedures or tests.

Medication Mistakes:

Errors in medication are a major source of medical mistakes. Medication errors can occur in hospitals or pharmacies, and the error may be made by any of the staff involved with choosing or dispensing medication.

1. Inappropriate medication: the wrong medication given for a disease.

2. Wrong medication: the patient gets the wrong medication despite the doctor prescribing the correct one.

3. Drug name mix-ups: several medications have similar-sounding names and can be mixed up by doctors or pharmacists.

4. Wrong medication combinations: there are numerous types of medications that should not be mixed, because of side effects and cross-reactions when combined.

5. Adverse reactions to medication: Some people have allergic or other adverse reactions to certain medications. These are risks and not necessarily avoidable mistakes if the person has no previous history of a particular adverse reaction.

6. Side effects of medication: Almost all medications have some types of side effects. Some are mild, some nasty. It is almost impossible to know up front whether a person will have side effects from a medication.

7. Non-compliance: the failure to follow prescribed medication regimen can be a mistake made usually by the patient.

Pharmacist errors:

The dispensing of drugs by the pharmacy is a complex and busy activity. Various errors can make by the pharmacist.

1. Wrongly filled prescriptions

2. Wrong drug supplied

3. Wrong dosage supplied

4. Drug name mix-ups: various drugs have similar names.

Pathology Lab Errors:

Diagnostic testing done by a pathology laboratory can be subjected to various errors. Some are administrative or human mistakes; other mistakes are inherent to the limitations of the type of test.

1. Wrong biopsy results: visual inspection of cellular slides

2. Administrative errors: mixing samples, etc.

3. Known test errors and risks: almost all tests have a small percentage of unavoidable errors (false positives, false negatives).

4. Known limitations of tests

Equipment failure Errors:

Physical failures with medical equipment can occur.

1. IV drips dislodged

2. Dead batteries in equipment

Unnecessary Medical Ytreatment:

Excessive medical care can be a form of mistake for medical professionals and institutions. This can occur with good intentions (to ensure correctness) or for cynical reasons (to increase income).

1. Unnecessary procedures

2. Unnecessary tests