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A new US study reveals that hospital medication errors, even those with potentially dangerous consequences, are being hidden from patients and their families.

By Anonymous on Jan 16, 2013

In a cross-sectional report published in Critical Care Medicine, researchers state that although many medication mistakes do not harm patients, hospitals are less likely to tell individuals and their families in ICU units. This study used a database of around 840,000 voluntarily reported medication errors from 537 U.S. hospitals between 1999 and 2005. Findings demonstrate that ICU patients accounted for about 56,000 or 6.6% of the errors of which 3.7% (2,045) were believed to be harmful.

The study’s lead author Asad Latif said: “For the most part, our findings were in keeping with what the existing literature tells us about the where and how of medication errors in a hospital.”

Non-ICU patients were subjected to 783,800 (93.4%) errors, of which only 14,471 (1.9%) were detrimental to the individual meaning that a majority of mistakes did not harm the patient. However, about 4% of the errors did harm ICU patients as compared with a 2% figure for non-ICU patients. The researchers noted that this difference in harm could be attributed to the fragile nature of ICU patients and their more advanced level of intensive treatment.

Around 18 errors for ICU patients and 92 for non-ICU patients could have resulted in death. The most common error type was omission with a figure of 26% for ICU individuals and 28% for non-ICU. Other error types were associated with dispensing devices and calculation mistakes. ICU errors were more likely to be associated with harm, permanent harm, harm which required a life-sustaining intervention or death. In half of the circumstances, no action was taken after an error. About a third of hospital staff who made reported errors were told about their mistakes.

Latif continued to say: “The most surprising finding was what we do about them, at least in the immediate time around when they occur. The patient and/or their family are immediately informed when an error occurs barely two percent of the time, despite literature supporting full disclosure and their desire to be promptly informed.”

He added: “Studies like this give us the opportunity to find out how we are actually doing, compared to how we think we are doing. They help us discover associations between the outcomes we are interested in and their potential causes and consequences.”

While this study is extremely useful in showcasing what the healthcare industry needs to do better, it shows that the entire sector needs to be more transparent with those in their care.

Patients should be informed about medication errors at all costs, even if there is no chance of long term damage, and fear of reprisals is not an acceptable excuse for keeping silent. They have a right to know and learn about which types of medication works best for them and hospitals should be encouraged to share more, not less. If patients know more about their health, they can actively reduce errors with their medication as they work together with healthcare professionals.