MED MIX-UPS HURT 1 IN 15 KIDS

Medicine mix-ups, accidental overdoses and bad drug reactions harm roughly one out of 15 hospitalized children, according to the first scientific test of a new detection method, according to a new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Other findings:

• Researchers found a rate of 11 drug-related harmful events for every 100 hospitalized children.
• That compares with an earlier estimate of two per 100 hospitalized children, based on traditional detection methods.
• The rate reflects the fact that some children experienced more than one drug treatment mistake.
• The new estimate translates to 7.3 percent of hospitalized children, or about 540,000 kids each year, a calculation based on government data.
• Simply relying on hospital staffers to report such problems had found less than 4 percent of the problems detected in the new study.

The new monitoring method developed for the study is a list of 15 "triggers" on young patients' charts that suggest possible drug-related harm. It includes use of specific antidotes for drug overdoses, suspicious side effects and certain lab tests. By contrast, traditional methods include non-specific patient chart reviews and voluntary error reporting.

The researchers said their findings highlight the need for "aggressive, evidence-based prevention strategies to decrease the substantial risk for medication-related harm to our pediatric inpatient population."

Patient safety experts said the problem is likely even bigger than the study suggests because it involved only a review of selected charts. Also, the study didn't include general community hospitals, where most U.S. children requiring hospitalization are treated.

Source: "Med Mix-Ups Hurt 1 In 15 Kids," USA Today, April 7, 2008.

For text:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-07-chidlren-medicine_N.htm

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Hospitals are dangerous places for children as well as adults.

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Founder Institute for Medical Wellness

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