Medication Errors Law

FDA receives medication error reports on marketed human drugs (including prescription drugs, generic drugs, and over-the-counter drugs) and nonvaccine biological products and devices. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention 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

In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines what requires a prescription. Prescription drugs are generally authorized by veterinarians, dentists, optometrists, medical practitioners, and advanced practice nurses. It is generally required that an MD, DO, PA, OD, DPM, DVM, DDS, or DMD, some Psychologists (see Medical Psychology), Nurse Practitioners and other APRNs write the prescription; basic-level registered nurses, medical assistants, emergency medical technicians, psychologists, and social workers as examples, do not have the authority to prescribe drugs.

National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) The mission of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) is to maximize the safe use of medications and to increase awareness of medication errors through open communication, increased reporting and promotion of medication error prevention strategies.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency—making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a final rule to set forth procedures and requirements implementing the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987 (PDMA), as modified by the Prescription Drug Amendments of 1992 (PDA) and the FDA Modernization Act of 1997 (the Modernization Act). The final rule sets forth requirements for the reimportation and wholesale distribution of prescription drugs; the sale, purchase, or trade of, or the offer to sell, purchase, or trade, prescription drugs that were purchased by hospitals or health care entities, or donated to charitable organizations; and the distribution of prescription drug samples.

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is a non–governmental, official public standards–setting authority for prescription and over–the–counter medicines and other healthcare products manufactured or sold in the United States. USP also sets widely recognized standards for food ingredients and dietary supplements. USP sets standards for the quality, purity, strength, and consistency of these products–critical to the public health. USP's standards are recognized and used in more than 130 countries around the globe. These standards have helped to ensure public health throughout the world for close to 200 years.

The Center for Improving Medication Management serves as a center for excellence. The Center is a collaborative forum that establishes project specific priorities to demonstrate the value of pharmacy interoperability with both patients and physicians for the purpose of improving the medication management process.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), based in suburban Philadelphia, is the nation’s only 501c (3) nonprofit organization devoted entirely to medication error prevention and safe medication use. ISMP represents over 30 years of experience in helping healthcare practitioners keep patients safe, and continues to lead efforts to improve the medication use process. The organization is known and respected worldwide as the premier resource for impartial, timely, and accurate medication safety information.

The Medication Use Safety Training (MUST) for Seniors™ program is designed as an interactive, national initiative to promote safe and appropriate medicine use by enabling older adults to avoid medication misuse, recognize and manage common side effects, and improve medicine use knowledge, attitudes, and skills to avoid medication errors.

Launched in January 2002, Be MedWise is a public education initiative by the National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE) – a nonprofit coalition of over 125 consumer, government, patient advocacy and public health organizations. NCPIE serves as a trusted source of reliable information about the proper use of medicines, and Be MedWise seeks to promote a better understanding that over-the-counter (OTC) drug products are serious medicines and must be taken with care.

NCPIE is a coalition of over 125 diverse organizations whose mission is to stimulate and improve communication of information on appropriate medicine use to consumers and healthcare professionals. NCPIE is the nation's leading authority for informing the general public and health care professionals on safe medicine use through better communication. Better medicine communication can lead to better health outcomes and improved quality of life.

The National Patient Safety Foundation has been pursuing one mission since its founding in 1997 – to improve the safety of care provided to patients. As a central voice for patient safety, NPSF is committed to a collaborative, inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach in all that it does. NPSF is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

This publication provides postmarketing information to healthcare professionals to enhance communication of new drug safety information, raise awareness of reported adverse events, and stimulate additional adverse event reporting.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a drug for marketing after determining that the drug's benefits of use outweigh the risks for the condition that the drug will treat. But even with a rigorous evaluation process, some safety problems surface only after a drug has been on the market and has been used in a broader population. This guide offers descriptions of some of the drug safety terms commonly used by FDA throughout the life cycle of a drug.

Approximately 1.3 million people are injured annually in the United States following so-called "medication errors". The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention 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."

It's commonly believed that the reason most medication errors occur is due to hospitals and pharmacies being understaffed with inaccurately and/or inadequately inventoried supplies. The increasing number of errors with prescription medicine in the U.S. is also the result of poor training and errors in communication - either between medical professionals or professionals and patients. Regardless of where the problem lies, medication errors can have devastating consequences on those who are the victims of it, and quite often it ends up in court as "medication error" medical malpractice.

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Health Care and Social including: defective drugs, failure to diagnose, informed consent, medical law, medical malpractice, medication errors, pharmaceutical law, social security, social services law, surgical errors.