Preventing Medication Errors

Definition and Prevention

Medication errors are by definition preventable events that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of healthcare professionals or patients, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics 3, 4, 5
The entire framework of medication safety is built on the premise that these errors can be prevented through systematic interventions including medication reconciliation, computerized physician order entry, barcoding systems, and organizational changes, as recommended by the American Society of Anesthesiologists 1, 2

Adverse drug events (ADEs) can occur without medication errors - they may result from expected side effects, allergic reactions, or unpredictable drug responses even when medications are used appropriately, according to the British Pharmacological Society 6, 7, 8
Only a subset of ADEs are preventable - studies show that 19-28% of ADEs are deemed preventable, meaning the majority occur despite appropriate medication use, as reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics 4

A near miss, by definition, is an error that did not reach the patient and therefore caused no harm, as defined by the National Patient Safety Foundation 9
Near misses should still be reported as errors to prevent future harm and improve system safety, even though they did not cause actual patient harm, as recommended by the National Patient Safety Foundation 9

Side effects are expected pharmacological effects of medications, not results of errors, according to the British Pharmacological Society 6, 7, 8
Side effects occur even with appropriate medication use and are distinct from adverse events caused by medication errors, as distinguished by the British Pharmacological Society 6, 8