The alert also advises practitioners to spell the drug name aloud when giving verbal orders, to have prescriptions and dosages double-checked by two nurses and pharmacists, and to implement computer safeguards that make it difficult to prescribe Taxotere over the recommended amount. Teaching physicians proper penmanship will have little effect and will waste providers' valuable time, according to the article. Instead, the ISMP recommends planning now to implement a computerized system for physician orders in order to alleviate problems with illegible handwriting. Most Errors Not Dangerous Most medication errors in U.S. hospitals end up not harming patients, according to a report on national hospital medication errors released by U.S. Pharmacopeia, a global monitor of medication practices. Click here to review the complete release .
Conflicting reports leave consumers wondering who they can trust.
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