Accreditation

Study: Surgery increases risk of medication errors

Accreditation Connection, March 12, 2007

A study of more than 400 hospitals showed that surgeries were the most common time for medication errors to occur in hospitals, according to the Washington Post.

The study, prepared by U.S. Pharmacopeia, looked at 11,239 medication errors, which included giving the wrong drug, wrong dose, or giving the drug at the wrong time. It found that 5% of the mistakes caused harm, including four deaths.

Medication errors during surgery--which included preparation time, recovery, and the actual procedure--most commonly involved painkillers and antibiotics.

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