FDA Partners with ISMP To Prevent Medication Errors

Posted on April 2, 2012

The Food and Drug Administration is partnering with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices in an attempt to prevent costly and dangerous medication errors that could negatively impact consumers.

Medication errors can encompass any number of accidents, be it a mistake in labeling, a miscommunication, or a prescription mixup.  Typical cases can include a physician not having a proper patient history that includes all known allergens when prescribing meds, lookalike packaging that pharmacists have trouble correctly identifying, and poor methods of communication between a physician and a pharmacy that can contribute to a hazard.

One of the most notable functions that this new partnership can provide is the ability to disperse the appropriate information to relevant parties in the event of a medication error.  The ISMP, through its websites and newsletters, will be able to alert healthcare professionals should the FDA find an issue with a certain medicine or device.

By the same token, any issues that are brought to the ISMP’s attention through its various affiliates and Medication Errors Reporting Program can now be shared with the FDA through its Medwatch system. This system reports information on potential problems with medicine and medical devices, and ISMP can hopefully expand Medwatch’s breadth.

Such sharing can help the agencies spread awareness and determine the cause of a hazard to make sure it does not happen again.

As a Ventura personal injury lawyer, I’m glad to see steps taken to improve communication and safety.  Not everyone pays as close of attention to healthcare news as a Riverside personal injury attorney, and partnerships like this can help correct that.

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