Good Information Articles

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:

• the name of the patient on the bottle;

• the name of the doctor on the bottle;

• the name of the medication (and cross check it to be sure that it treats a disease or problem you actually have... there are lots of look-alike/sound-alike drug names out there);

• the dose (from an independent source...to make sure that it is a plausible dose for you);

• the *route* (to make sure, for example, that eye drops are being prescribed for the eye, and not the mouth, or the ear...amazingly injuries from drug misplacement occur all the time);

• the expiration date.

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 drug;

• right patient;

• right dose;

• right time;

• right route;

• right reason;

• right documentation.

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

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

Online Magazine is Home to the Best Travel Writing on the Internet
For the second year in a row, SoGoNow.com is the home to the best travel article written for the internet as judged by the North American Travel Journalist's Association.

Home Internet Business Opportunities: Reinvent Your Family
Think about your daily job, daily responsibilities, time spent at meetings, driving your kids to this activity and that sporting event, meal planning and preparation, house cleaning, on and on with our grossly busy lives, and what time is left for our family? Do you really think that 9-5 JOB is the answer to all of our hopes and dreams? Do you really think it was our personal goal to spend the majority of our lives at work? When was the last time you saw your son/daughter play in that school volleyball game or run in their cross country meet? Isn?t it time to put your family first?

Internet Marketing Business - Your Home Based Internet Marketing Business and the Freedom Attached with it
There are various reasons why there are many individuals who want to start their own home-based Internet marketing business. Some are saying that the amount of money that they are earning from Internet marketing is higher compared to their monthly salary from their regular work. It even comes to a point that they are earning money similar to or more than the salary of their managers and department heads! This is relatively true, since there are Internet marketers who are earning as much as a hundred thousands of dollars within a month.

Work At Home Internet Home Business Opportunity
There are various opportunities for work at home Internet home business opportunities on the Internet Because of the Internet, there are many opportunities for people to be able to take care of their families and work from home and as well

Work From Home - Online Resource Center for Home Based Online Jobs and Internet Based Business
Welcome to Work from Home?s ?an online guide and resource website to help you Start and grow your Home based Job and Business. Please note that we are only offering information on Work from Home Jobs and Business opportunities. We are not offering you a job or a business tie-up. Please read through the website as you will find valuable information and resources to start and grow your home based business. www.homebasedonlinejobs.com

Children's Home Society & Family Services Receives Reaccreditation to Once Again Facilitate Adoptions in Russia
Children's Home Society & Family Services, a Minnesota-based international adoption service provider, announced today it has been re-accredited by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation to facilitate adoptions in that country.

Low-Income Families in Portland Will Soon Have Free Broadband Internet at Home
Cricket Will Provide Free High-Speed Wireless Internet to 100 Portland Families in Pilot Program with One Economy

Internet Based Business: How Single Parents Could Earn Extra Income For The Entire Family
Are you a single parent who has been trying to support your children on a single income? If you have been having so much trouble making both ends meet with your present income, you might want to earn some extra money by setting up an internet based business. A big family with children can be very expensive and you definitely will need to earn some extra money to keep everyone comfortable. Having some extra money could really do wonders for you and your small children so you better start exploring other means of getting extra money for your children through an internet based business.

Business & Family Safety and Health Rating
For good reason, practically every endeavor in life is rated. I've seen ratings on who or what's #1 in business, industry, NFL, NBA, MLB, person of the century, athlete of the century, technology, restaurants, university, neighborhoods, travel destination, best looking, best movie, best book, etc.

New Home Based Travel Businesses and Training Available for Retirees and Work-At-Home Parents
Affordable training is now being offered for those wishing to set up their own home based travel businesses. Program offers participants everything they need to get started quickly and affordably in this exciting market.

Internet Home Based Business : Legitimate Work at Home Jobs Opportunities and Advantages
There are many advantages involved in choosing an internet home based business as your primary or secondary source of income Use these benefits to find a legitimate work at home jobs that suits your needs and desires

Family Travel at its Finest - European Villa Rentals Perfect for the Whole Family
Parents can easily find family friendly villa rentals in Europe with Rentvillas.com.

The Best Internet Connection For A Top Home Internet Business
When it comes to working at your home business one of the most important things you will need is internet access Having a fast and relatively error free Internet connection is imperative for a person to be successful in working at home

Making Time For Your Family and a New Internet Home Business
Starting your own internet home business can be a very fulfilling experience. It offers many new and exciting challenges, with the hopes of providing financial security for you and your family.