Doctors must read drug labels, not whinge about them

doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7330.170

BMJ 2002;324:170 ( 19 January )

Letters

Doctors must read drug labels, not whinge about them

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Twice last year the BMJ gave column space to doctors reporting confusion between ampoules of water, saline, and lignocaine(also called lidocaine) for injection. ¹ ² These doctors blamethe similarity in ampoule shape and colour rather than admittingto the fundamental problem of having simply failed to read thelabel.

In my view, the differences between the labels in both the illustrations used are readily apparent. ¹ ² To blame thatlabelling is a diversion of personal responsibility that I findunacceptable; even for doctors "in a busy plastic surgery unit"²the check takes only a second. The journal is right to draw attentionto the issue, but the arguments against change need to be presentedaswell.

Those who clamour for change must recognise that there are only a few shapes (round, square, and triangular in cross section)that might be used to hold fluids, and only a few colours . . . [Full text of this article]

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