IOM report finds medication errors injure 1.5 million persons annually

American Family Physician,  August 15, 2006  by Liz Smith

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Medication errors injure 1.5 million persons or more each year, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM). An estimated 400,000 preventable drug-related injuries occur annually in hospitals, costing at least $3.5 billion in extra medical expenses, the report states.

In 2000, medication-related injuries in outpatient clinics cost about $887 million. The authors of the report make several recommendations for patients, health care providers, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies. They advocate strong partnerships between health care providers and patients, recommending as a standard procedure that health care organizations inform patients about clinically significant medical errors made in their care, whether or not harm occurs. The report suggests that patients ask their physicians questions about how they should take their medications, and keep a list of all the drugs they take. Noting the incomprehensibility of many drug information materials, the report recommends that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration work to standardize the text and design of medication leaflets. Drug naming also should be standardized, the report states; drug name confusion accounted for one quarter of errors reported to one program. The report raised concerns about the distribution of free drug samples, which may bypass standard interaction checks. It also said electronic prescribing may reduce the number of drug-related errors and called for all health care providers to use electronic prescribing systems by 2010. The full report is available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11623.html, or by calling 202-334-3313 or 800-624-6242. For more information, visit http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/ newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11623.

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