Report finds many medications involved in errors linked to similar drug names

The 8th annual national MEDMARX Data Report was released this week by the U.S. Pharmacopeia and it revealed that more than 1,400 commonly used drugs are involved in errors linked to drug names that look or sound alike.

For the report, USP reviewed more than 26,000 records submitted to the MEDMARX database from 2003 to 2006. These records revealed that 1,470 different drugs are implicated in medication errors due to brand and/or generic names that looked or sounded alike.

In response to the findings, USP is calling on prescribers and pharmacists to include an “indication for use” on prescriptions. Indication for use is a phrase that signals why the patient is taking the drug (e.g., cough, infection, rash). To prevent medication errors, USP recommends that this powerful piece of information be conveyed at several points along the health care system.

“Errors resulting from look-alike/sound-alike drugs are a problem that spans the entire health care system,” said Darrell Abernethy, chief science officer for USP. “By recording and communicating not only the name of the drug, but also what it is being used for, prescribers, pharmacists and consumers can work together to dramatically reduce these types of medication errors.”