Medication errors

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Death by Medicine Gary Null PhD, Carolyn Dean MD ND, Martin Feldman MD, Debora Rasio MD, Dorothy Smith PhD. See book keywords and concepts

Medication Errors A survey of a 1992 national pharmacy database found a total of 429,827 medication errors from 1,081 hospitals. medication errors occurred in 5.22% of patients admitted to these hospitals each year. The authors concluded that a minimum of 90,895 patients annually were harmed by medication errors in the country as a whole.37 A 2002 study shows that 20% of hospital medications for patients had dosage mistakes. Nearly 40% of these errors were considered potentially harmful to the patient. In a typical 300-patient hospital the number of errors per day were 40.

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Deaths from medication errors Spike Deaths from medication errors spike by 25% at the start of each month, according to a recent study. Presumed reason: Government checks go out at the beginning of the month. As a result, pharmacies have a surge in their workloads, increasing the risk of mistakes. Safety: Have your prescriptions filled when your pharmacy isn't busy. David P. Phillips, PhD, professor, department of sociology, San Diego Center for Patient Safety, University of California, San Diego.

Too Profitable to Cure Brent Hoadley, Ph.D. See book keywords and concepts

Her statistics are equally astounding (ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR): • 12,000 — unnecessary surgery • 7,000 — medication errors in hospitals • 20,000 — other errors in hospitals • 80,000 — infections in hospitals • 106,000 — non-error, negative effects of drugs A total of 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!! The pharmaceutical corporations form the foundation for this collateral damage, and are aided by government. As a juror, you must now consider the culpability of the medical community.

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In one study, researchers calculated that more than 100,000 hospitalized patients die each year from medication errors and more than 2 million others suffer serious side effects. These numbers are shocking because everyone assumes that rigorous controls would be in place in hospitals. Another 700,000 people are hospitalized each year because of adverse reactions to prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs Melody Petersen See book keywords and concepts

They excluded injuries caused by medication errors made by doctors and pharmacists. They also left out overdoses and cases where patients died after abusing the medications. In other words, they looked at people who were harmed by medicines that had been properly prescribed and taken exactly as directed. They also limited their study to hospitalized patients—that is, those who died from medications administered in the hospital and those who died after being hospitalized because a medicine prescribed in an outside clinic had made them sick.

Death By Prescription: The Shocking Truth Behind an Overmedicated Nation Ray Strand, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

With hospital personnel's great tendency toward concealing mistakes and the reluctance to report complications, spontaneous reporting reveals only a small portion of adverse drug reactions or medication errors. When quality-review nurses began to look specifically for these problems (without relying simply on spontaneous reports), claimed Bates, the incidence of adverse drug reactions and medication errors increased fiftyfold. After reviewing all of their findings, Bates concluded that the overwhelming majority of these cases were preventable.

Not only do we face the inherent risk of medications but also the additional risk of medication errors. Dr. Bates made bold statements about how common adverse drug reactions are in hospitalized adults. With hospital personnel's great tendency toward concealing mistakes and the reluctance to report complications, spontaneous reporting reveals only a small portion of adverse drug reactions or medication errors.

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Americans undergo unnecessary medical and surgical procedures. • the number one food item consumed is sugar, in the form of corn syrup. This has generated an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. This epidemic is not being treated at the causal level. Note: Since the fructose in corn syrup does neither stimulate insulin secretion nor reduce the hunger hormone ghrelin, you will continue to feel hungry while the body converts the fructose into fat. The resulting obesity increases the risk of diabetes and other diseases.

Bottom Line's Prescription Alternatives Earl L. Mindell, RPh, PhD with Virginia Hopkins, MA See book keywords and concepts

They found 247 "adverse drug events," meaning medication errors that injured the patient in some way. Of these, 70, or 28 percent, were considered preventable. Of the 70, 56 percent were caused by physician error and 34 percent by improper administration by a nurse. Watch for Errors Like a Hawk: This Is Your Life To look at the media today, you'd think that medical error would be the least of your worries—but you'd be wrong. You are more likely to die from medical error than from breast cancer, a car crash, or AIDS.

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This only accounts for those incidents that were reported, and says nothing about the numbers of people who suffer from disabilities and various other complications resulting from medical mishaps. For those who throw caution to the wind when it comes to the notion of prevention, believing that as Americans we enjoy a high standard of health, and that if you do get sick, modern medicine is going to take care of you, this data is as an eye-opener. This issue of medical misdeeds has claimed much media attention recently and is a reminder to all of us that ultimately health care is self-care.

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Inquiries from health professionals regarding product promotion. USP medication errors...............................................................................................................................800-233-7767 Reporting of medication errors or near-errors to help avoid future problems through improvement in product names and packaging. Information for Health Professionals Center for Drug Information Hot Line...........................................................................................................301-827-4573 Information on human drugs including hormones.

Death By Prescription: The Shocking Truth Behind an Overmedicated Nation Ray Strand, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Incidentally, medication errors that frequently lead to serious adverse reactions and deaths have greatly increased during this past decade.7 One of the main reasons is because the health-care system is placing the heavy responsibility of self-care on patients' shoulders. Use and Misuse of Antibiotics One area that most health-care providers and public health officials agree about is the overuse of antibiotics. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria should cause everyone alarm.

Both these trends have contributed to increased medication errors and, in turn, increased adverse drug events. Patients are seeing so many different physicians that their medical care is becoming fragmented, and too many times there is really no particular physician in charge.10 The bottom line is that patients must know their drugs and be much more actively involved in their treatment, fully understanding that every time they take a medication there is a risk.

When quality-review nurses began to look specifically for these problems (without relying simply on spontaneous reports), claimed Bates, the incidence of adverse drug reactions and medication errors increased fiftyfold. After reviewing all of their findings, Bates concluded that the overwhelming majority of these cases were preventable.5 Doctors love their drugs, and I guarantee they will prescribe them. Whether it is in the hospital or an outpatient setting, you can anticipate that your doctor will prescribe medication for each and every complaint or problem.

Death by Medicine Gary Null PhD, Carolyn Dean MD ND, Martin Feldman MD, Debora Rasio MD, Dorothy Smith PhD. See book keywords and concepts

The authors concluded that a minimum of 90,895 patients annually were harmed by medication errors in the country as a whole.37 A 2002 study shows that 20% of hospital medications for patients had dosage mistakes. Nearly 40% of these errors were considered potentially harmful to the patient. In a typical 300-patient hospital the number of errors per day were 40.38 Problems involving patients' medications were even higher the following year. The error rate intercepted by pharmacists in this study was 24%, making the potential minimum number of patients harmed by prescription drugs 417,908.

The Medical Racket Martin L. Cross See book keywords and concepts

With this new traffic has come a large increase in medication errors and deaths. Publishing in Lancet, Phillips explains that by 1993 one out of every 131 outpatient deaths was caused by medication errors—a fourfold increase in drug mistakes per patient from 1983. Was it due to the increased volume of prescriptions? No, that number went up only 1.4 times. "Our data suggest," Phillips says, "that medical personnel may need to compensate for changes in medical care by increased vigilance in the delivery and monitoring of medication, especially for outpatients.

Sociologist David Phillips of the University of California, San Diego, a morbidity expert, has just completed a study showing that the outpatient clinic is a perfect setting for iatrogenic episodes caused by medication errors, in both the type of prescriptions and their dosage. In the decade from 1983 to 1993, for instance, he and his team found that outpatient hospital visits for medical care increased by seventy-five percent. With this new traffic has come a large increase in medication errors and deaths.

Death By Prescription: The Shocking Truth Behind an Overmedicated Nation Ray Strand, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

The frequency of drug resist- medication errors that frequently ance is increasing in virtually all organisms lead to serious adverse reactions that cause both community- and hospital- and deaths have greatly increased acquired infections.8 during this past decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that office-based physicians prescribe approximately 100 million courses of antibiotics in the United States each year.

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REPPED: As a practicing psychiatrist and neurologist, I've successfully diagnosed and treated hundreds of patients whose emotional and behavioral symptoms were caused by tumors, infections, toxins, medication errors, genetic diseases, and other physical problems. Most of them came to me after being tagged with psychiatric labels—manic depression, anxiety disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—and being given powerful mind-altering drugs or referrals for psychotherapy.

I've evaluated thousands of such patients, and, believe me, none of them was making up symptoms as a way of avoiding responsibility—nor did they make up the tumors, metabolic disorders, parasites, viruses, bacteria, brain injuries, heart defects, toxins, and medication errors that caused their symptoms. And they didn't make up the fact that their symptoms disappeared when I was able to accurately diagnose their problems and address the basic causes. (By the way, even the patients whom DSM labels as "malingerers," and Szasz dismisses as liars, generally are suffering from brain dysfunctions.

That certainly sounds impressive, but it doesn't explain the anxiety attacks caused by medication errors, allergic reactions, hyperthyroidism, and dozens of other diagnosable and treatable disorders. Patients whose anxiety stems from such disorders aren't going to feel better if they spend thousands of dollars letting their fantasies escape from the "prison house of the unconscious"; they're only going to feel angry and cheated when they find out that treatments based on such theories are worthless. So keep your resolve.

Even a more conservative estimate I've heard—360 medication errors per day for an average-size hospital—is hardly reassuring.) I am not being facetious when I tell my patients that the most dangerous place in the community is the hospital. 2. Doctors frequently increase the dosage of an ineffective medication, figuring that "more is better." But in the case of psychotropic drugs, higher dosages may be no more effective than lower dosages and can increase your risk of serious side effects.

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Antibiotic use (and, especially, overuse) is creating another threat to public health in this country. These drugs, which are effective only against bacteria, are useless against viruses, worms, parasites, and fungi, yet they are often overprescribed by physicians. In addition, 70 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States each year are fed to healthy pigs, chickens, and cattle to speed growth and prevent disease.

The Medical Racket Martin L. Cross See book keywords and concepts

There is growing concern about the quality and continuity of physician-patient relationships; in the case of medication errors, this concern may be justified." The message should now be clear: the hospital, including its outpatient clinics, are susceptible to error of every nature, often at a frightening rate. The Threat from Medications An even graver threat to hospitalized patients than errors made in medications is the drugs themselves, even when they are supposedly properly prescribed by physicians.

To save money, "aides" with various titles but without much training are taking the place of registered nurses with extensive training. • medication errors and reactions are much too common, with a much higher level of danger than anyone had believed. • The quality of care varies enormously from hospital to hospital nationwide, with no overall professional attempt to make it more uniform. • Mistakes reported in more recent surveys indicate that far more are made in hospitals than it had been assumed; these errors are a leading cause of death.

As the University of California at San Diego reported concerning the large increase in outpatient medication errors since 1983 (which we have already covered), part of the problem was that less time is given to each patient by doctors, mainly because of the HMOs. Good-bye, Hippocrates So whatever happened to the Hippocratic Oath? Physicians—except, generally, academic doctors—gave that up as impractical a long time ago.

How to Get Out of the Hospital Alive: A Guide to Patient Power Sheldon P. Blau, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.R. and Elaine Fantle Shimberg See book keywords and concepts

Ask about their nosocomial infection rate and whether they have a designated infection control staff member; its nurse/patient ratio and if these are registered nurses (RNs) or licensed practical nurses (LPNs); and its rate of medication errors and what procedures are in place to prevent these mistakes from occurring. If they refuse to give you this information, find another hospital if at all possible. Although hospitals are not obligated to give out this information, they should welcome patients who understand the importance of these statistics.

Despite (or perhaps, due to) computers, medication errors continue to be the leading cause of accidents in hospitals. Many of them could be prevented. Hospitals need to instill extra checks and safeguards any time medications are ordered from their pharmacy. Physicians are hardly infallible. They can err by prescribing the wrong dosages, forgetting what other medications the patient is taking or what allergies there may be. There should be verification both at the hospital pharmacy end where the prescription begins and at the nursing end before any drug is given to the patient.

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