A physician might prescribe clonidine, an antihypertensive medication, to treat high blood pressure. The medication is also used to treat children dealing with ADHD. However, a numerical error resulting in an 8-year-old Colorado boy receiving 1,000 times the appropriate dose may have contributed to his death on June 8, 2016.
New York paramedics often have to work in less than perfect conditions, make snap decisions and act quickly, so medication mistakes can occur. Medication errors are defined by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research as preventable events that lead to patient harm or inappropriate use of medications. These errors can arise from a variety of causes, including product labels, distribution and lack of education.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is launching an effort to standardize concentrations of IV and oral liquid medications in order to prevent patients in New York and around the country from being harmed by errors in the administration of these medications. The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine estimates that more than 1.5 million people in the United States are negatively impacted by sucherrors every year.
In the United States, nearly 14.5 million children and adults that have had a history of cancer were healthy and alive as on January 1st, 2014. Unfortunately, it is estimated that 500 deaths occur each year in the country as a result of chemotherapy errors. Roughly 3% of errors that are related to chemotherapy are reported. Also, 63% of oncology nurses reported that chemotherapy errors occurred in their place of work.
Medical errors are a serious problem for patients in New York and across the nation. In fact, medical errors are one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., ranking third after heart disease and cancer. Some of the most common errors may be prevented if patients stay engaged with their medical treatment and ask questions.
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