Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7917

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Starr CH.
When drug names spell trouble
Drug Topics 2000 May 15; 144:49-50, 53-54, 57-58

Abstract:

An overview of the problem of medication errors associated with look alike/sound alike drug names is presented, and efforts by the pharmaceutical industry, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), and United States Pharmacopeia (USP) to reduce the incidence of look alike/sound alike medication errors, a campaign underway at ISMP for the elimination of handwritten prescriptions, and reasons for look alike/sound alike medication errors and approaches for preventing these types of errors are considered.