The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is launching an effort to standardize concentrations of IV and oral liquid medications in order to prevent patients in New York and around the country from being harmed by errors in the administration of these medications. The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine estimates that more than 1.5 million people in the United States are negatively impacted by sucherrors every year.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is launching an effort to standardize concentrations of IV and oral liquid medications in order to prevent patients in New York and around the country from being harmed by errors in the administration of these medications. The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine estimates that more than 1.5 million people in the United States are negatively impacted by sucherrors every year.
The ASHP’s new project, titled Standardize 4 Safety, will be carried out over three years and involve contributions from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and experts from organizations like the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. It will also received funding from the FDA through its Safe Use Initiative.
This effort is a crucial one, as there is currently no standard practice for administering liquid medications and IVs in hospitals, and errors like dosage mistakes tend to happen as patients are moved from one section of a hospital to another. For example, a patient who goes to the hospital with a serious injury might move from an ambulance to the emergency room to the operating room and finally to the intensive care unit while receiving different medications with varying concentrations at every step along the way. This creates numerous chances for hospital staff to make mistakes while adjusting dosages and administering new medications.
A patient who has been harmed as a result of a dosage mistake or similar medication error may be forced to undergo additional and expensive treatment. An attorney who has experience in medical malpractice litigation might find, after a review of the evidence and consultation with medical experts, that a lawsuit seeking compensation from the responsible facility or practitioner might be advisable.
