Reducing Medication Errors Through Naming, Labeling, and Packaging

Overview

Journal J Med Syst

Specialty Medical Informatics

Date 2004 Jun 3

PMID 15171066

Citations 37

Authors

Adrienne Berman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Errors due to look-alike or sound-alike medication names are common in the United States, and are responsible for thousands of deaths and millions of dollars in cost each year. Up to 25% of all medication errors are attributed to name confusion, and 33% to packaging and/or labeling confusion. Thousands of medication name pairs have been confused based on similar appearances or sounds when written or spoken, or have been identified as having the potential for confusion. Systems and recommendations have been developed that may reduce the occurrence of such errors.

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