| |
| |
|
Medicine Information |
|
|
|
The Last Line of Defense Against Medication Errors: What You Need to Know to Keep your Family Safe
This is a true story. Yesterday, I picked up a new antibiotic prescription for my daughter from my local pharmacy. (We recently adopted my daughter from India where she had recurrent ear infections resulting in severe hearing loss. And, she is about to undergo the second of several planned surgeries in order to try to repair the damage.) Before putting her to sleep, I got the new medication out of the bag, glanced at the instructions, and prepared to give her the drug according to the instructions on the label. Just before doing so, I had a quick double-take. Something seemed to be wrong. I looked at the instructions again, and thought to myself slowly, *What*s going on...this doesn*t seem right.* Then, it hit me that the dose seemed awfully high for her. It took me a minute or two to put the pieces together (it had been an unusually tough fight getting her ready for bed, I was tired, I was confident in my daughter*s physician, and I was thinking perhaps less critically that I should have). And then I noticed it. The label had a stranger*s name on it. After another moment or two, I saw what had really happened. The medication came in a box. Each side of the box had a different label...one label was for my daughter and one label was for a stranger. And, the stranger*s dose was more than double what my daughter*s surgeon had recommended. (This error didn*t happen in a mom-and-pop pharmacy. It happened in a modern new chain pharmacy whose name you would recognize from advertisements on TV.) I*m not a surgeon...and I*m not a pediatrician...but I am a physician trained in internal medicine and I have spent most of the last twelve years writing about, speaking about, and developing systems to reduce the frequency of medication error and improve the safety of pharmacy practice. This pharmacy error brought the topic of drug safety home to me...literally. What I can tell you is that this sort of error occurs all too often in the United States (and around the world). And, that it can have devastating consequences for the people involved. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that 25% of patients who take one or more prescription medications will experience an adverse drug event within three months-and 39% of these are preventable or avoidable. The Harvard Medical Practice Study found reported in JAMA in 2001 that 30% of patients with drug-related injuries died or were disabled for more than 6 months. And, what almost everyone who studies this problem agrees is that current systems for selecting drugs, dosing them, communicating a prescription to a pharmacy, dispensing drugs, and instructing patients on their safe use are woefully inadequate. In this series, we are going to take a close look at the processes that cause medication errors (some things that your physician and pharmacist may not even want you to know) and what steps you can specifically take to make sure that you and your love ones are protected from this hazard. Ten years ago, your ability to get current, objective, reliable information on your medications in a quick and easy way was practically non-existent. It probably would have involved a trip to the library and required considerable knowledge about pharmacology to get the answers. Today, that*s not the case. There is a host of on-line tools, databases, and resources that allow you to learn information about medications that even your physician and pharmacist may not know. We*re going to talk about them, show you were to go, tell you the key things you need to know about medications, expose some myths, and let you know the questions you should be asking. It*s not as hard as it may seem. In fact, you need to become the final line of defense in the battle against medication errors. Throughout, we are going to give you some key rules that should guide your defense. So, Rule Number 1. Trust, but verify. Never assume that the medication you have received is the right medication for you or that it is dosed correctly for you. Specifically, you should check:
We*ll talk about some specific resources that will help with each of these throughout this series. The result, we hope, will be the piece of mind to know that you and your family are getting your 7 rights:
Right on! © 2004 Timothy McNamara, MD, MPH About The Author Timothy McNamara, MD, MPH is a nationally prominent expert in medication safety and healthcare technology. For additional practical steps you can take to improve medication safety and a personalized report of your medication profile, go to: http://www.medicationadvisor.com/art1.asp
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Vioxx and Bextra Lawsuits Could Tie Up Courts for Years In September, 2004, pharmaceutical giant Merck voluntarily withdrew its painkilling medication Vioxx from the market. Studies show that Vioxx increases the risk of heart attack and stroke among patients who have used the drug for longer than 18 months. Be Informed About The Medications You Take The recent withdrawal of the prescription drugs Vioxx and Bextra have arthritis patients concerned about their health, lawyers busy with lawsuits, and Congress poring over thousands of pages of documents obtained from the manufacturer. The drugs, part of a family of medications known as COX-2 inhibitors, have recently been shown to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes among users who take the drugs for long periods of time. An Addition For Practitioners - How to Help Your Patients and Your Practice Please feel free to comment, so I may modify this appropriately, or help Do you refer to other modalities or tests?I invite people to investigate this valuable additional resource to their practices. Contact pk. Naturopathic Medicine Naturopathic Medicine is an holistic approach that relies on natural remedies. Sunlight, air, and water are thought of as natural healers; this, along with nutritional supplements and massage therapies are all part of naturopathic medicine. Ingrown Toe Nails Medical Treatment Medical Care:Treatment options depend on the stage of ingrown toenails, medically known as onychocryptosis.Stage 1 can be managed by recommending shoes with a comfortable wide toe box or open-toed shoes. Serevent Side Effects Put Serevent in Top 5 Most Dangerous Drugs Serevent is an asthma inhalation medication, a bronchodilator, that relaxes the muscles in airways. It is preventative and not effective when taken during an asthma attack. 10 Steps To Detoxification Technology. We live in a grand time of technological development. Stop Taking Blood Pressure Medications with Your Doctors Approval I have been swallowing three varieties of blood pressure pills for 10 years. In another month, I expect to be off of them entirely. Pagan Medicine: Then and Now A time will come when our children's children will look back upon the age of "modern" medicine of the 21st century as paganistic witchcraft, foisted upon ignorant masses of people. May God rightly judge those who corrupted His ministry of healing and killed His children. Family Notification in Seven Quick and Easy Steps The Seven Steps to Successful Notification is an easy-to-use system based on time-tested tools successfully used by hospitals nationwide. It provides your hospital staff with all of the steps necessary to:? Identify and locate your unconscious patient's next of kin or surrogate decision maker. Buy Electric Wheelchairs Online Electric wheelchairs mobility for virtually any type of disability.Innovations have made control of electric wheelchairs manageable for everyone. Propulsid Litigation Lawyer Says: Unnecessary Drug Killed 80 People Propulsid was a popular nighttime heartburn drug before it was pulled in the market in March of 2000. It was linked to dozens of fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. Parasites In Your Colon Your colon is a place for other parasites and organisms to breed and live. Many are harmful to your health and enter the body in various ways - foods we eat, through the bottom of your feet, air you breathe, the water you drink, and through sexual activity. "So? Which One Do I Use Doctor? Heat or Ice? Heat has long been used to provide temporary relief of arthritis pain, and is used in many different forms. Contrast baths, whirlpools, electric pads, microwaveable gel packs, hydrocollator packs, infrared lamps, and hot showers are some of the different techniques used. 4 Reasons to Feel Safe Submitting an Electronic Medical Claim Electronic Medical ClaimFor years, both practices and patients have had to deal with submitting medical claims. Up until recently, claims were submitted manually, using HCFA 1500 forms. The Truth about C Reactive Protein and Cholesterol Lowering Drugs You might disagree, but hear me out on this.. Prescription Drug Side Effects: Treating From The Outside Or The Inside? Throughout time there have always been two opposing points of view as to how to maintain good health, or how to regain it after having lost it. This conflict has continued since ancient times . Give Me Accutane or Give Me Death: The Politics of Prescriptions Any teenager will tell you that acne can drive you crazy, but is it dismal enough to drive you to kill yourself? Since its market debut in 1982, enraged parents and lawyers have implicated Accutane in the hospitalizations and suicide deaths of over 200 teenagers in the US.Accutane (isotretinoin) is one of Hoffman-LaRoche's most popular and controversial pharmaceuticals. Heel Pain - Ten Tips for Treatment The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis (plan * tar fash* ee * I * tis). If you experience a sharp pain in your heel when you first step down in the morning, it is most likely due to plantar fasciitis. Medical Tourism Opportunities in India More and more people have started travelling to India for Medical Treatment and during the past year alone, over 150000 people travelled to India for their medical requirements. Medical Tourism is finally coming of age.
|
| home | site map | Dr. Thad Thomas |
| © 2006 |
