Preventing Medication Errors

Medication errors include administering or prescribing the wrong drug, wrong dose, or wrong route of administration to a patient. Many medication errors are caused by the confusion of medicines with similar names, such as primidone (a seizure medication) and prednisone (an anti-inflammatory medication), which is commonly confused with 12 other drugs per a 2008 warning.

Ten years ago, a report called Err is Human, from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), was published and pointed out how medication errors make up a substantial source of preventable hospital errors. A follow-up to the report, released on its tenth anniversary showed how medication mistakes are still hurting innocent victims.

In both reports, IOM recommended stronger oversight by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to address safety issues connected with drug packaging and labeling, and similar named drugs.

Packaging and Design Adds to Confusion


In a high-profile case in 2007, twin babies of actor Dennis Quaid and his wife were given 1,000 times the prescribed dose of the blood thinner heparin. According to Quaid’s testimony before Congress, the couple sued the drug manufacturer for the medication error, charging that the manufacturer was negligent in packaging different doses of the product in similar vials with similar blue labels.

This problem was not new. A year before, a similar medication error mix-up occurred when six infants in a newborn intensive care unit at an Indianapolis hospital were given excessive doses of heparin, leading to the death of three of them. After the Indianapolis deaths, the manufacturer issued a letter warning hospitals of the potential for medication errors, but the packaging was not changed for at least 12 months and the same packaging was still being used in the hospital treating the Quaid children.

One means to reduce medication mistakes is the use of technologies such as Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems to write prescriptions and Bar-Code Medication Administration (BCMA) technology to check that patients get the right medication. Both technologies are estimated to cut medication errors in half or more. But unfortunately mainstream use of the technologies is not in-place and unsuspecting patients will continue to be irreversibly harmed. Don’t let yourself or your loved one be victimized—fight back with the help of Seeger Weiss attorneys.

Call Us Toll Free:

888-584-0411