BMJ  2008;336:456 (1 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39475.402650.80 (published 7 February 2008)

Editorials

Medication errors caused by junior doctors

Association with depression and burn-out remains uncertain

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

The effects of medical errors on patient morbidity and mortality have been highlighted in the United Kingdom and the United States.^{1 2}Preventable medication errors account for 10-20% of adverse events in patients admitted to hospital.¹ In the UK, up to 1.5% of hospital prescriptions may contain a medication error, and a quarter of these could result in potentially serious effects.³ The situation is similar in Australia and the US—medication errors occur in about 1-2% of patients admitted to hospital, resulting in around 7000 deaths a year in the US alone.^{2 4}

Although junior doctors are responsible for most medication errors in hospital,⁵ investigations to date have mainly focused on the role of system failures, rather than factors in prescribers, such as burn-out or depression. The mental health of junior doctors has been studied widely, but no data are available on the possible association between depression and burn-out in prescribers and medication . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD

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