Hospital medication errors and side effects on the rise

Consumer Reports News: April 14, 2011 12:09 PM

Nearly 1.9 million people in U.S. hospitals had drug side effects or errors in 2008, up from 1.2 million in 2004, according to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Nearly 56,000 of these people died—an 11 percent increase from four years earlier.

The biggest drug offenders that led to hospitalization were corticosteroids, painkillers, blood-thinners, medications to treat cancer and immune-system disorders, as well as heart and blood pressure medicines.

Ninety-two percent of the hospitalized cases occurred in people who had taken the right drug in the right dosage but who developed side effects or had allergic or hypersensitive reactions. About 7 percent of the cases stemmed from errors, such as patients taking or being given the wrong drug or accidentally overdosing.

To reduce the risk of drug side effects or medication errors:
• Bring a list of all your medicines and supplements when you go to your doctor's office, pharmacy, or the hospital, to ensure there are no contraindications or drug interactions.
• Read prescriptions before you leave your doctor's office. If you can't read it, chances are a pharmacist won't be able to either. Have your doctor write one that's clearly legible and includes directions for use.
• Ask your doctor and pharmacist about how to take the drug and what side effects to watch out for, and what to do if you think you develop one.
• At the pharmacy, make sure the prescription you pick up has your name on it and is the correct medication and dose.
• Ask about interactions with supplements you take, too, though our recent investigation found that pharmacists sometimes don't know much about those risks.

Read more about preventing drug mix-ups and other tips on drug safety.

Source
Medication-Related Adverse Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals and Emergency Departments, 2008 [Agency for Health Research and Quality]

—Steve Mitchell