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Medication Errors More Likely When Nurses Are Interrupted

Interruptions can break our train of thought.  But when nurses are interrupted while administering medications to their patients, the consequences can be dangerous -- or even deadly.

Bloomberg Businessweek reported on a study of nurses in professional medical settings that found that the more they were interrupted, the greater the risk of medical errors.  In one instance, the study found that four interruptions in the course of a single drug administration doubled the likelihood of a patient mishap.

FDA reports common causes of medication errors

Since 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received more than 95,000 medication errors reported via their MedWatch adverse event-reporting program.  Since these reports are made voluntarily, the actual number of medication errors is feared to be much higher.

The following are some factors the FDA says contribute to medication errors:

• Miscommunication of drug orders
• Poor handwriting of prescriptions
• Mixups between drugs with similar sounding names
• Poor or confusing packaging design
• Confusion caused by metric or other dosing units
• Interruptions and other distractions while preparing drugs and dosages

FDA initiatives to prevent medication mistakes

Many of the millions of prescription drugs on the market today have similar sounding names that are easy to confuse.  Confusing similar sounding drugs—like the blood pressure medicine Toprol XL with the migraine drug Topamax, or the pain drug Lyrica with epilepsy drug Lamictal, or antihistamine Zyrtec with antipsychotic Zyprexa—can be potentially harmful to the patient.

In a publication called FDA 101: Medication Errors, the FDA cites an Institute of Medicine report that finds that 7,000 Americans die each year from medication errors.  In FDA 101, the FDA lists its many initiatives to prevent medication errors including the following:

• Reviewing drug names and rejecting those that are similar to others already on the market
• Requiring all over-the-counter (OTC) drug products (more than 100,000) to have a standardized drug facts label
• Improving drug package inserts for healthcare professionals
• Working with drug companies to reduce the risk of confusing labels or product design
• Requiring barcodes on certain products
• Outreach programs to educate healthcare professionals and the public about medication error prevention

Contact us

If you or a loved one received the wrong medications or dosages in a medical setting, you should seek the help of a qualified Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney promptly so that legal action can be taken within the statute of limitations.

At the law office of James Dattilo & Associates, P.C., you can have a free initial consultation with an experienced Pittsburgh medical malpractice lawyer, and we take cases on a contingency basis.  Please contact us online or phone our office at 412-391-6300 to discuss your case.