Known side effects are the source of the majority of injuries and deaths resulting 3. To avoid them, the healthcare practitioner must select the best treatment and plan appropriate measures to manage the risks, for example, patient hydration for products that are toxic to the kidneys, or dose adjustments for patients with impaired kidney. Examples of avoidable side effects include the consequences of known drug-drug interactions or side effects caused by prescribing an inappropriate dosage in the elderly. Although estimates vary, the overall human and economic costs of unavoidable side effects are high. Superinfection following antimicrobial chemotherapy, fatigue and depression from interferon use, and bone marrow suppression from chemotherapy are common, predictable, and usually unavoidable side effects.
Errors also can involve the unintended substitution of the wrong product for the prescribed product.
Errors arise, for example, when a confusing product name results in the wrong product being dispensed, or when inattention results in an overdose of an intended drug. Substantial numbers of injuries and deaths occur annually from medication or device errors. 6 Such errors are not totally preventable, but can be minimized through interventions to the system. Many outside organizations are involved with identifying and reducing medication errors. The FDA accomplishes this through a series of required approvals for a medical product.