Catching Deadly Drug Mistakes

Catching Deadly Drug Mistakes

A nurse misunderstands an abbreviation on a pharmacy order, and gives an accidental overdose of a drug that slows the heart rate, killing the patient. Intravenous fluids are administered after surgery at too-high a rate to a child, who then dies because of the error. Confusion over a drug name leads to insulin being added to infant nutrition IV solutions instead of the intended medication, heparin, an anti-clotting drug: The consequences are fatal.

Children given wrong drug doses

Hospital doctors make mistakes in more than one in 10 prescriptions they write for children, far more than was previously thought, according to an authoritative study published today.

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