Medication Errors: What They Are & How You Can Prevent Them

Medication errors performed by medical assistants and pharmacy technicians are an unfortunate reality in regards to patient health care and they occur in a myriad of settings ranging from hospitals to doctor's offices to pharmacies.

In fact, more than one million people are injured each and every year from medication errors alone. And while it's certainly true the majority of health care professionals have been thoroughly trained when it comes to safely administering medication, errors still can and do occur, even those with fatal consequences with approximately 7,000 deaths reported annually.

According to studies done by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the most common medication errors that ended with patient fatalities were related to improper dosages, accounting for 41% of errors, followed by using the wrong drug completely and using the wrong method of administering a drug, each accounting for 16% of total errors. The study also reports that nearly half of these errors occurred in patients over the age of 60 who typically take the most prescription medication.

So how can all of these errors be completely eliminated from our health care system before the damage is done?

As all health care professionals know, the "five rights" of safely using medication, which include using the right drug, administering it to the right patient at the right time and in the right dosage, and also using it in the right way, are a primary part of medical training. However, all of these "rights" focus solely on the performance of the professional and their knowledge but overlook any crucial components missing from the system that may contribute toward medical errors, making ongoing training and having access to the latest information an absolute imperative.

The ISMP, or the Institute of Safe Medication Practices, in conjunction with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), a non-governmental entity that sets the standards for both prescription and over-the-counter medications for more than 130 different countries, have created the USP-ISMP Medication Errors Reporting Program (MERP). Along with the FDA's MedWatch Program, the USP-ISMP's MERP program has reviewed literally thousands of medication errors and investigated the settings in which they occurred.

The findings of these programs uncovered that the proximal causes for medication errors include reasons such as a basic lack of knowledge of the drug in question, preparation errors, a lack of information about the specific patient, human error, erroneous interactions with other services, such as pharmacies or drug manufacturers, and failed communication between medical professionals.

When addressing the issue of medication errors, the importance of formal and ongoing training simply cannot be emphasized enough. Health care professionals should be well versed in all protocols and procedures and should know how to proceed when administering uncommon or unfamiliar medications.

As of the year 2006, professional drug labels on product packages received an entirely new look in order to make the process of reading and understanding labels simpler for professionals. All labels include a highlighted section that features key information about prescribing and using the drug. Pharmacy technicians and medical assistants should also have access to or knowledge of any critical updates or changes to a drug, its label, its dosage, or its administration requirements.

A collaborative effort between health care professionals, the organizations in which they work, and the drug manufacturers is essential for getting to the crux of common medication errors and how to prevent them.