Hawaii Personal Injury Blog - dose

Can Acetaminophen Kill? FDA panel recommends smaller acetaminophen doses, painkiller bans.

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:52:00 GMT

The CBS Evening News (4/30, lead story, 3:05, Couric) reported, "An FDA panel recommended today that prescription Vicodin [hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen] and Percocet [oxycodone and acetaminophen] be banned, and that over-the-counter Tylenol, Excedrin, Nyquil, and Theraflu contain stronger warning labels...The problem, according to FDA advisors, is that they all contain acetaminophen, which can cause liver damage."

The FDA "panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect," the New York Times (7/30, A1, Harris) reports in a front-page story. "The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen," and the panel's vote to "recommend a ban on the combination drugs was one of 11 it took" at the meeting. The experts also recommended "that the FDA reduce the highest allowed dose of acetaminophen in over-the-counter pills...to 325 milligrams, from 500," and "to reduce the maximum daily dosage to less than 4,000 milligrams."

The Wall Street Journal (7/1, Favole) notes that the panel "of 37 doctors, pharmacists, and researchers voted on the recommendations Tuesday after spending two days discussing steps the FDA should take to reduce the number of acetaminophen overdoses. Gerald Dal Pan, director of the FDA's office of drug surveillance, said, "Whatever we do on any of these options, it will really affect the whole healthcare system." The agency also noted that the recommendation to pull "from the market a number of prescription products "may" affect 240 pending drug applications. But some on the panel opposed a sweeping withdraw of prescription acetaminophen combination drugs "that are widely used to control severe, chronic pain."

The AP (7/1, Perrone) reports. The panel decided that "if the drugs stay on the market, they should carry a black box warning, the most serious safety label available." Notably, "drug companies avoided the most damaging potential outcome with the defeat of [a] proposal to pull NyQuil and other over-the-counter cold and cough medicines that combine acetaminophen with other drugs."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

WARNING! One Out of Five Doses of Medications Given In Hospitals is Wrong

Wayne Parsons — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:28:50 GMT

Medication errors cause 7,000 deaths each year and the frightening truth is that 1 out of every 5 doses of medication given in hospitals is wrong according to the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s Control in Managed Care Pharmacy (Medication errors)

The annual cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality is nearly $177 billion in the United States and there is at least one death per day and 1.3 million people are injured each year due to medication errors according to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Protect yourself. Check the label and ask questions. Even in the hospital ask to speak to a pharmacist. They know more than the nurses and M.D.'s about the drugs. The doctors and nurses are overworked and make many mistakes through oversight and poor communications among themselves and between shifts at the hospital.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Most Common Medication Errors

Wayne Parsons — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:03:06 GMT

We all know that making an error in the medication a patient takes can be serious. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) is an organization that attempts to warn patients about these risks.

The NCC MERP defines a medication error as "any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer...related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use." The NCC MERP estimates that 1.3 million Americans were injured by medication errors in 2006.

According to MedicineNet the FDA and other independent organizations are consumer watchdogs for problems with drug errors:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently reviews medication error reports that come from drug manufacturers and through MedWatch, the agency's safety information and adverse event reporting program. The agency also receives reports about medication errors from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and the U.S. Pharmacopeia.

You can report drug errors and you can also educate yourself about what to do to protect yourself, your family and your friends.

The FDA studied reports of fatal medication errors for the years 1993 and 1998 and concluded that the most common form of error leading to death was improper dose (41% of fatal errors). The study also found that 16% of the fatal errors involved taking the wrong drug and 16% of the deaths were due to the wrong route of administration. Approximately half of the deaths occurred in people over 60. Older people tend to take more medications, thus increasing the risk of error.

The most common drugs that are involved in fatal errors. In 2006 here is the Top 10 List from MedicineNet:

Top 10 Drugs: The Most Common Medication Errors Related Articles

acetaminophen

amoxicillin

Chemotherapy

citalopram

hydroxyzine

ibuprofen

methylprednisolone

metronidazole

naproxen

prednisone

What can you do? Ask the pharmacist is by far the best source of information. They usually know a lot more about the medications being taken than the doctors or nurses. Secondly, read the bottle and also read the label. Check the dose on the bottle! Use the buddy system. Ask a friend or family member to double-check what you are taking. Don't drink alcohol and take ibuprofen (acetamenophen)! acetamenophen can cause liver failure and death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons