NEW YORK -- Modern medicines can cure diseases, improve quality of life, even save your life. But it has to be the right medicine, given at the right time and in the right dosage, or the drug may not work appropriately -- and can even be dangerous.

A new report issued by U.S. Pharmacopeia found more than 105,000 medication errors submitted by 368 hospitals nationwide.

"The findings in this report are disturbing in that we're seeing repeated problems continuing to persist," said Diane Cousins of the Center for the Advancement of Patient Safety.

The vast majority of errors were corrected before causing harm to the patient. But 2.4 percent of the errors resulted in patient injury. The errors occurred at every step in the process -- from the prescription phase, to the dispensing phase at the pharmacy, to the actual administration of the drug.

While technology such as computer prescribing reduces handwriting errors, and robotic pharmacies reduce dispensing errors, the report says that technology alone is not the answer.

"Some of that technology in solving some of the problems that we're seeing is actually creating new problems, and so one of the causes of medication errors that we are seeing among the top 10 is actually computer entry errors," Cousins said.

The most dangerous errors involved a handful of drugs, including morphine, insulin, and anti-blood clotting agents. The most common factors contributing to errors were distractions while dealing with medications, workload increases and inexperienced staff.

So what can you do to protect yourself? The report authors suggest:

Talking with your doctor so you know the name, strength and uses of medicines you're prescribed.
Keep a list of all your drugs, including prescription, over the counter and supplements.
Read your drug label carefully and understand how to take the medication.
And if you're in the hospital, you or an advocate should ask questions about every medication you're given.

For more information, log onto U.S. Pharmacopeia's Web site.