Medication Safety in 2025: Verbal Prescriptions, Biosimilars, and Senior Drug Risks

When it comes to medication safety, the system of practices and protocols designed to prevent harmful errors in drug use. Also known as drug safety, it's not just about what pills you take—it's about how they're written, handed off, stored, and monitored. In November 2025, the focus was clear: too many preventable mistakes still happen because we assume the system works, when it often doesn't.

Verbal prescriptions, oral orders given by doctors to nurses or pharmacists, still account for over 30% of medication errors in hospitals. Also known as oral orders, they're fast but dangerous—especially with high-alert drugs like insulin or heparin. Without strict read-backs, phonetic spelling, and immediate documentation, a simple misheard dose can kill. And it’s not just hospitals: clinics and nursing homes still rely on them daily, making this a universal risk. Meanwhile, biosimilars, highly similar versions of complex biologic drugs that aren’t exact copies like generics. Also known as biologic generics, they’re saving billions—but confusion among providers is holding back adoption. Many still think they’re the same as traditional generics, when they require different handling, storage, and tracking. This misunderstanding leads to underuse, even when patients could benefit. Then there’s senior drug dosing, how aging changes how the body processes medicine, making standard doses risky for older adults. Also known as geriatric pharmacology, it’s why a pill that’s safe for a 40-year-old can cause falls, confusion, or kidney damage in a 75-year-old. Kidney function slows, liver metabolism drops, and body fat increases—all changing how drugs behave.

What You’ll Find in This Archive

This collection from November 2025 dives into the real-world gaps between theory and practice. You’ll see how a 15-minute chat with your pharmacist can stop an ER visit, why storing your insulin in a hot bathroom can ruin it, and how first-gen antihistamines like Benadryl might be quietly raising your dementia risk. We break down how prescriber override works when generics aren’t safe enough, why inhaler technique fails 80% of the time, and how mail-order pharmacies can deliver the wrong pills—or none at all. These aren’t abstract ideas. They’re daily realities for patients, caregivers, and providers who need to act—not just know.