AAP News Vol. 15 No. 5 May 1999, p. 3
© 1999 American Academy of Pediatrics
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ED medication errors

Carla Kemp

Most medication errors in a pediatric emergency department involved giving patients an incorrect dose or the wrong drug, a Philadelphia study found.

Investigators reviewed all incident reports involving medication or intravenous fluid errors over five years to determine who was responsible, what caused the mistake and what happened to the patient.

Nearly one-third of the 33 incidents involved patients receiving the wrong medication. Often, the error occurred because drugs had similar names or packaging, according to the authors. In addition, 36 percent of the patients were given the wrong dosage, often because their weight was recorded or obtained incorrectly.