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IOM: Med errors injure 1.5 million each year

Pharmacy Regulation Resource, July 28, 2006

A new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report found that medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people each year and cost about $3.5 billion annually.

The committee that wrote the report made a series of recommendations for patients, healthcare organizations, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies. The recommendations include ways to improve communication and interactions between healthcare professionals and patients. The IOM panel also calls for the creation of consumer-friendly information resources that allow patients to find objective drug information. The report recommends that all prescriptions be written electronically by 2010 and suggests improvements to the naming, labeling, and packaging of drugs to prevent errors.

Another recommendation calls for increased study of the impact of free drug samples on overall medication safety. Read more about the report and how to order it here

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