Pediatric Journal Details Medication Errors for Hospitalized Children: New Study
Adverse drug events affect about 7% of U.S. children in hospitals -- adverse events such as getting the wrong medication, the wrong doses of medication, and dangerous, preventable reactions. The percentage is much higher than previous estimates, too, underscoring growing concerns about medical errors involving hospitalized children, according to new research published in the journal Pediatrics.
In this latest study, medical researchers reviewed the charts of nearly 1000 randomly selected children from 12 children's hospitals around the United States. The method of detecting medical errors was a list of 15 "red flag" events that a patient's charts might indicate possible drug-related problems. Those "red flags" included administration of antidotes for drug overdoses, suspicious medication side effects and lab test results.
Researchers discovered adverse drug events in 11.1 of every 100 hospitalized children whose cases they reviewed. Earlier estimates had placed adverse drug events at 2 for every 100 patients. Of these adverse drug reactions, 22% were found to have been preventable, 17.8% could have easily been identified earlier, and 16.8% could have been handled more effectively. Ninety-seven percent of the errors led only to minor, temporary harm. Interestingly, fewer that 4% of these events were found in traditional hospital reports, according to study data.
The drugs that were most commonly misused were pain medications and antibiotics. Most common mistakes included a failure to closely monitor patients, and the prescription of the wrong medicine or wrong doses of medicine, the researchers said.
Authors of the study note that the number of adverse drug events involving children is about the same as it is for adults.
Previously on the DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we have posted articles related to:
- How thousands of pediatric ER visits are linked to cough and cold medications each year
- Evidence that pediatric death rates for heart surgery are lower at experienced hospitals
- A warning that national plans for pandemic flu almost completely ignore children
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