Medication Errors

A medication error is "any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer," according to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention.

Serious Medication Errors occur over One Million times each year. Twenty per cent are life threatening. Each prescription mistake adds $2,000 to the cost of hospitalization according to one study, resulting in 2 billion dollars annual increase in hospital costs. Administering the wrong dosage or improper combinations can cause interactions or contraindications with fatal results. 1.3 Million patients are victims of medicine injuries.

Examples of drug name confusion reported to the FDA include:
Serzone (nefazodone) for depression and Seroquel (quetiapine) for schizophrenia
Lamictal (lamotrigine) for epilepsy, Lamisil (terbinafine) for nail infections, Ludiomil (maprotiline) for depression, and Lomotil (diphenoxylate) for diarrhea
Taxotere (docetaxel) and Taxol (paclitaxel), both for chemotherapy
Zantac (ranitidine) for heartburn, Zyrtec (cetirizine) for allergies, and Zyprexa (olanzapine) for mental conditions
Celebrex (celecoxib) for arthritis and Celexa (citalopram) for depression.

Most-Common Medication Mistakes:
The American Hospital Association lists these as some common types of prescription or medication errors:

incomplete patient information (not knowing about patients' allergies, other medicines they are taking, previous diagnoses, and lab results, for example);
unavailable drug information (such as lack of up-to-date warnings);
miscommunication of drug orders, which can involve poor handwriting, confusion between drugs with similar names, misuse of zeroes and decimal points, confusion of metric and other dosing units, and inappropriate abbreviations;
lack of appropriate drug labeling as a drug is prepared and repackaged into smaller units;
environmental factors, such as lighting, heat, noise, and interruptions, that can distract health professionals from their medical tasks.

The Coalition for the Prevention of Massachusetts Medical Errors has developed a consumer guide that encourages patients to become "part of the health care team" along with their physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, to prevent medication mistakes. See their Guide for the prevention of medication errors here.

Who Tracks Medication Errors?

The Food and Drug Administration
Accepts reports from consumers and health professionals about products regulated by the FDA, including drugs and medical devices, through MedWatch, the FDA's safety information and adverse event reporting program.
1-800-332-1088
www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm

Institute for Safe Medication Practices
Accepts reports from consumers and health professionals related to medication. Publishes Safe Medicine, a consumer newsletter on medication errors.
1800 Byberry Rd., Suite 810 Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006-3520
215-947-7797
www.ismp.org/Pages/Consumer.html

U.S. Pharmacopeia
MedMARX is an anonymous medication error reporting program used by hospitals.
www.medmarx.com
12601 Twinbrook Parkway Rockville, MD 20852
1-800-822-8772
www.usp.org

If you or a loved one has been harmed by a doctor who has negligently prescribed medicine, contact us now for help.