A study completed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has found that at least 1.5 million people are harmed as a result of medication errors each year. The panel recommends steps that health care organizations, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies can take to reduce the level of medication errors. The incentive for these combined groups is a saving of an estimated $3.5 billion dollars now spent each year by hospitals on the medical costs attributed to treating drug-related mistakes.
Several of the recommendations for health care organizations, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies include standardization of the text and design of medication leaflets so consumers can understand them; and the creation of a website by the government that provides a comprehensive and easily understandable source of educational information about drugs and to fund a national telephone line for people who don't have internet access.
The panel also offers suggestions to patients in keeping them safe where medications are involved. Patients should keep a list of all medications and all non-prescription drugs taken, as well as all vitamins and herbal remedies; review the list with their health care provider; and ask questions and expect complete explanations before agreeing to take a medication.
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has published What You Can Do to Avoid Medication Errors, as a fact sheet for patients, available as a PDF document.
