BMJ 2002;324:930-931 ( 20 April )

Editorials

Using drugs safely

Undergraduates must be proficient in basic prescribing

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

The recent Audit Commission report A Spoonful of Sugar was grim reading.1 The report suggested that nearly 1100 people died last year in England and Wales as a result of medication errors or adverse reactions to medicines and that the number had increased fivefold in just 10 years. This alarming increase may be an overestimate inflated by changes in defining and reporting causes of death and cannot all be attributed to a true deterioration in prescribing. However, studies elsewhere also hint at high rates, 2 3 although the definitions and data have been questioned.3 The Audit Commission failed to distinguish clearly between medication errors, inevitable adverse reactions, and potentially preventable adverse reactions. Since strategies for minimising each are different, we need data that tell us where problems lie.

There are several reasons why drug errors might have risen (see box). In addition, human error is most likely when inexperienced and overworked staff, in a . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Evidence based prescribing
Simon R J Maxwell
BMJ 2005 331: 247-248. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Aronson, J.K. (2009). Medication errors: what they are, how they happen, and how to avoid them. QJM 102: 513-521 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Rahmner, P. B., Gustafsson, L. L, Larsson, J., Rosenqvist, U., Tomson, G., Holmstrom, I. (2009). Variations in understanding the drug-prescribing process: a qualitative study among Swedish GPs. Fam Pract 26: 121-127 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Maxwell, S. R J (2005). Evidence based prescribing. BMJ 331: 247-248 [Full text]  
  • Barber, N, Rawlins, M, Dean Franklin, B (2003). Reducing prescribing error: competence, control, and culture. Qual Saf Health Care 12: i29-32 [Abstract] [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

memory games miss the point
Adrian K Midgley
bmj.com, 21 Apr 2002 [Full text]
A spoonful of sugar and a pinch of salt
Martin LeatherBarrow
bmj.com, 24 Apr 2002 [Full text]
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