MEDICATION ERRORS

Medication Error Deaths

Analyzing medical death rate data over an eight-year period, Johns Hopkins patient safety experts have calculated that more than 250,000 Americans die each year from medical errors. That would make medical errors the third leading cause of death in the United States.

On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) official list, medical errors would rank only behind heart disease and cancer. The researchers urged the CDC to immediately add medical errors, and medication errors, to its annual statistics on the leading causes of death in the US.

The situation is so dire that the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a recent global initiative to reduce severe medication-associated harm worldwide by 50 percent over the next 5 years.

The Global Patient Safety Challenge aims to address the weaknesses in health systems that lead to medication errors and the severe harm that may result. Most harm arises from systems failures in the way care is organized and coordinated, especially when multiple health providers are involved in a patient’s care.

The WHO initiative calls on countries to take early action to address key factors, including carefully monitoring medicines with a high risk of harm if used improperly, monitoring patients who take multiple medications, and patients going through transitions of care.

The WHO aims to make improvements in each stage of the medication use process including prescribing, dispensing, administering, monitoring and use.

Nursing Home Medication Error

Not long ago, before much litigation targeted nursing homes for certain abuses, many assisted care facilities used heavy medication to easily manage residents. Patients who are heavily sedated and sleep the majority of the day don’t require as much staff time.

The situation has improved, but unfortunately there are still hundreds of cases where nursing home overmedication of residents is still an issue. Elderly patients are often prescribed multiple medications to treat chronic conditions, raising the risk of dangerous drug interactions and serious side effects. Many times drugs are prescribed by different specialists who don’t communicate with each other.

Older adults account for more than 50 percent of hospital visits involving drug-related complications, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Many of these cases involve patients of nursing homes who are not receiving the care they require.

Many times a patient may be on many medications that cause no issues but they are not always necessary. A study conducted at Veterans Affairs hospitals showed 44 percent of elderly patients were given at least one unnecessary drug at discharge.

If a loved one has been overmedicated by a nursing home, they may show drug-related symptoms that include the following:

• Atypical confusion
• Instability and falling
• Low blood pressure
• Respiratory complications
• Sudden sedation
• Severe and unusual fatigue
• Development of secondary infections

Pharmacist Malpractice 

Better Communication: Certain recommendations have been made by multiple medical organizations to alleviate the risk of hospital medication errors.  The primary focus is on improving communication between health care providers.  While this seems simple, the medical system continues to struggle with consistent and reliable communication and patients continue to be affected adversely.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits: Given the preventable nature, the overwhelming medical and societal cost, and susceptibility of the patient population to hospital medication errors, medical malpractice lawsuits in this area of incredibly important to deter and motivate the health care providers to simply communicate better.

Every other industry is required to have quality control standards that are consistent and designed to improve the quality of the service or product. It is not much to ask that the medical community, who is causing billions of dollars in additional medical costs, develop appropriate mechanisms to avoid these mistakes.

Medication Injury Lawsuits

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives more than 100,000 U.S. reports each year associated with a suspected medication error.

The global cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at US$ 42 billion annually or almost 1 percent of total health expenditure. Aside from the human cost, prescription errors place a huge strain on personal and state health budgets. The vast majority of errors are preventable, and health care systems must be held accountable to make the necessary changes.

Common causes of such errors include poor communication, ambiguities in product names, unclear directions for use, misinterpreted medical abbreviations or writing, poor procedures, and patient misuse because of poor product guidance. Preventing errors clearly saves money and saves lives.