New Study Looks at Hospital Drug Errors

New Mexico residents who require care at hospitals should be able to focus on the receipt of care but sadly must also be aware that the risk of a medical mistake also exists. Many of these errors involve different drugs that are required as part of the treatment protocol. A study recently published in a nursing journal took at look at errors involving medications at five different hospitals around the southwest.

Out of the 1,276 errors that were researched, the anticoagulant heparin was the drug most commonly involved outside of pediatric units. When evaluating different types of drugs, anticoagulants as a whole were involved in slightly more than 11 percent of incidents. Also involved in just over 11 percent of all errors evaluated were electrolytes and medications for endocrine needs. Antimicrobials were found to be involved in over 19 percent of all cases. Heart medications lead the way in all drug classifications for the most commonly involved as almost 25 percent of events included some type of cardiovascular drug.

Areas of hospitals for intermediate levels of care were involved in over 13 percent of cases reported while intensive care units were associated with 14.7 percent of cases. Surgical units were the locations noted in over 30 percent of all errors.

New Mexico residents who have concerns about specific situations in which medication errors may have transpired may wish to get legal input. Talking with an attorney can help people understand when investigation may be required.

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