Which scenario illustrates administering the wrong medication?

• A. A patient allergic to Penicillin inadvertently receives Amoxicillin
• B. A patient with no allergy receives Penicillin correctly
• C. A patient is given Amoxicillin but they are not penicillin allergic
• D. A patient allergic to Penicillin properly receives Penicillin

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that giving a drug the patient cannot take due to a known allergy is unsafe and counts as administering the wrong medication. In this scenario, a patient who is allergic to penicillin is given amoxicillin, which is a penicillin-type antibiotic. Because amoxicillin belongs to the same allergy class, it can trigger a allergic reaction in someone with a penicillin allergy. This makes it an inappropriate choice for this patient and demonstrates incorrect medication administration.

The other scenarios describe appropriate or acceptable situations: giving penicillin to someone with no allergy is correct; giving amoxicillin to someone who isn’t allergic is also acceptable in many cases; and giving penicillin to someone with a penicillin allergy would be unsafe (but the key point here is the clear mismatch between allergy and the prescribed drug).