The frequency of analgesic drug errors in hospitals is nearly three per 1,000 prescriptions, according to a news release by American Pain Society.
Researchers at Albany (New York) Medical Center examined a large database of pharmacist-detected and -prevented prescribing errors seeking to quantify and define characteristics and uses associated with increased risk for errors.
For the analysis, 714,290 orders for analgesics were reviewed by pharmacists. Each reported error was evaluated by the contributing cause: failure to modify therapy based on patient-specific information, inadequate drug therapy knowledge, inappropriate use of a dosage form, mistakes in dose calculations, improper dose for the route of administrations and others.
Results from the study showed the overall error rate was 2.87 errors per 1000 orders, with a potentially serious prescribing error rate of 0.63 per 1000. Error rates were higher in pediatric orders. Error rates varied widely between individual drugs, and the highest numbers of individual analgesic errors occurred with some infrequently prescribed medications, such as buprenorphine and benzocaine. Also, look-alike and sound-alike drug names comprised a significant proportion of medication errors found.
Read the news release abut analgesic medication errors.
Read other coverage about medication errors:
- Med School Curriculum Could Influence Attitudes Towards Patient Safety
- Joint Commission Releases 1995-2010 Data on Sentinel Events
- Top 10 Patient Safety Issues for 2011
Researchers at Albany (New York) Medical Center examined a large database of pharmacist-detected and -prevented prescribing errors seeking to quantify and define characteristics and uses associated with increased risk for errors.
For the analysis, 714,290 orders for analgesics were reviewed by pharmacists. Each reported error was evaluated by the contributing cause: failure to modify therapy based on patient-specific information, inadequate drug therapy knowledge, inappropriate use of a dosage form, mistakes in dose calculations, improper dose for the route of administrations and others.
Results from the study showed the overall error rate was 2.87 errors per 1000 orders, with a potentially serious prescribing error rate of 0.63 per 1000. Error rates were higher in pediatric orders. Error rates varied widely between individual drugs, and the highest numbers of individual analgesic errors occurred with some infrequently prescribed medications, such as buprenorphine and benzocaine. Also, look-alike and sound-alike drug names comprised a significant proportion of medication errors found.
Read the news release abut analgesic medication errors.
Read other coverage about medication errors:
- Med School Curriculum Could Influence Attitudes Towards Patient Safety
- Joint Commission Releases 1995-2010 Data on Sentinel Events
- Top 10 Patient Safety Issues for 2011