Industry efforts help reduce cough-cold medication errors in children
COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to Nationwide Children's Hospital researchers, 63,000 children under the age of six years experienced out-of-hospital medication errors annually between 2002 and 2012. One child is affected every eight minutes, usually by a well-meaning parent or caregiver unintentionally committing a medication error.
However, in a study published Monday in the jounral Pediatrics, researchers found that medication errors among cough-and-cold medications decreased signficantly. Analgesics (25.2%) were most commonly involved in medication errors, followed by cough-and-cold preparations (24.6%). Ingestion accounted for 96.2% of events, and 27% of medication errors were attributed to inadvertently taking or being given medication twice.
"This is more common than people may realize," said Huiyun Xiang, director of the Center for Pediatric Trauma Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital and senior author of the study. "We found that younger children are more apt to experience error than older children, with children under age one accounting for 25% of incidents."
"There are public health strategies being used to decrease the frequency and severity of medication errors among young children," said Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center and co-author of the study. "Product packaging needs to be redesigned in a way that provides accurate dosing devices and instructions, and better labeling to increase visibility to parents."
“The makers of over-the-counter medicines are encouraged to see that voluntary label changes to children’s cough and cold products have contributed to a reduction in medication errors in this category, and we remain committed to continuing our efforts to prevent all medication errors,” stated Scott Melville, president and CEO of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.
In 2007, members of CHPA voluntarily withdrew infant cough and cold products and added further voluntary label changes in 2008 for use only in children ages 4 and older. The organization also launched educational programming to communicate the changes.
“Through the CHPA Educational Foundation, we work with government agencies and healthcare professional groups to remind parents of young children to always read and follow the label and to store medicines up and away and out of sight," Melville said. "Reading and following the label and using the proper dosing device that comes with the medicine are key steps parents and caregivers should always take to ensure they treat their children with care."
In recent years, the industry has made additional efforts to reduce medication errors. In mid-2011, CHPA members voluntarily transitioned to one concentration of single-ingredient pediatric liquid acetaminophen. At the same, the industry standardized the dosing unit of measurement and provided age-appropriate dosing devices in all packages.
"Since the Pediatrics study includes data compiled from 2002 to 2012, we have yet to see how the pediatric acetaminophen changes have helped reduce medication errors," Melville said. "We have also filed a citizen’s petition calling on FDA to require manufacturers to include age- and weight-based dosing directions on the label for infants as young as 6 months. Unfortunately, the approved label today only directs caregivers to consult a doctor for children under age 2.”