Public Service Announcement: my pharmacy (and probably others too), writes a description of the pill (shape, color, markings) on the bottle of prescription medicine. You the patient are not powerless to avoid medication errors which I've heard are a leading cause of death. Check that the pill matches its description.
The two major human links in the chain before you ingest a drug are the doctor who prescribed it and the pharmacist who filled the prescription. You can check the pharmacist as described above. Because the name of the drug is also printed on the bottle, you can also do a limited amount of checking of the doctor: check that the drug actually is used to treat the illness or condition you've been diagnosed with. Can't easily check the diagnosis itself, though.
Can't easily check IV medications.
Where do the fatal medication errors occur?
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