Medication errors are more likely in those with low health literacy, including many older adults, patients with chronic diseases, recent immigrants, and people who do not understand English well or at all.
Patients should be educated about the risk of burns and other
problems that could result from wearing topical delivery systems during
MRI scanning or while exposed to the sun or excessive heat.
A recent study showed that there is a high level of misunderstanding of prescription drug warning labels among adults with low literacy levels.
In unrelated cases that received widespread attention a few years ago, two college-aged women died after applying a pharmacy-compounded combination of lidocaine and tetracaine topical gel.
A patient's father arrived at a community pharmacy to pick up an antibiotic for his child (amoxicillin suspension 250 mg/5 mL).
Recent changes in federal law regarding the stocking of pseudoephedrine products may present unforeseen communication errors between prescribers and pharmacies...
Recently, a mother wrote to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) to express confusion about iron products and the relationship between ferrous sulfate and elemental iron.
Numbers containing decimal points are a major source of error, and when misplaced, can lead to misinterpretation of prescriptions.
The complexity of ICUs, combined with the high acuity of the patients treated in these areas, creates an environment that is more susceptible to harmful patient outcomes when medication errors occur.
For more articles, please check our archives.