Medication Error

Any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional, patient, or consumer. Encompasses prescribing errors, dispensing errors, administration errors, and monitoring failures. A leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in healthcare systems worldwide.

Beispiele

• Look-alike/sound-alike drug name confusion (e.g., Celebrex vs Celexa)
• Decimal point errors in pediatric dosing (10x overdose)
• IV potassium chloride administered too rapidly causing cardiac arrest