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Medication errors

Medication errors are issues that lead to incorrect medication distribution or potential for patient harm. As of 2014, around 3% of all hospital-related adverse effects were due to medication errors in the emergency department (ED); between 4% and 14% of medications given to patients in the ED were incorrect and children were particularly at risk.

Errors can arise if the doctor prescribes the wrong medication, if the prescription intended by the doctor is not the one actually communicated to the pharmacy due to an illegibly written prescription or misheard verbal order, if the pharmacy dispenses the wrong medication, or if the medication is then given to the wrong person.

The ED is a riskier environment than other areas of the hospital due to medical practitioners not knowing the patient as well as they know longer term hospital patients, due to time pressure caused by overcrowding, and due to the emergency-driven nature of the medicine that is practiced there.