Do you know someone who was given the wrong drug by their pharmacist? Do you know someone who was administered the wrong drug by a nurse? How about someone who received the correct drug from a nurse working in the hospital or nursing home, but via the wrong route of administration (IV or IM)? My bet is that you do know someone like this…maybe several someones.
The Wall Street Journal, quoting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data, recently reported that medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people annually in the United States. The cause of these mistakes are many and include look-alike packaging, similar medication names, poor hand-writing on prescriptions, and lack of attention to detail, among many others.
My Take: I find it inexcusable that so many are killed and injured from medication errors. Want to protect yourself and your loved ones? You might find the non-profit Institute for Safe Medication Practices is a great resource for information.