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Reporting a Medication Error

What Do We Do With Your Report?

At ISMP, we review incident reports submitted by consumers and healthcare professionals and look for ways to prevent harmful errors. For example, we may approach a manufacturer to suggest that the label of a product be changed, we may suggest safer ways for healthcare professionals to handle medications, or we may remind consumers of things they can do to avoid making mistakes with medications.

ISMP will:

  • Review your report
  • Look for system problems that could cause errors to happen
  • Prepare recommendations that are designed to prevent mistakes with medication
  • Send recommendations about medication safety to healthcare professionals and consumers
  • Notify the manufacturer if it is a product issue
  • Advocate throughout the healthcare system to promote changes to improve medication safety
  • Provide consumer-focused information and tips about medication safety on the ConsumerMedSafety.org website
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ISMP will not:

  • Investigate a complaint on your behalf with an organization or healthcare professional that is responsible for an error
  • Investigate the actions of individual practitioners
  • Report (for disciplinary purposes) the incident to professional authorities responsible for regulating the practice of healthcare professionals
  • Release or publish any information that could identify the reporter of an incident, a patient, a healthcare professional, or an organization involved in an incident

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More Safety Articles

Don’t Confuse a Product Called WartSTICK with Lip Balm!

Many people are familiar with over-the-counter wart treatments. They're typically liquid based or are packaged in an aerosol container with a special application tip. But did you know there is also a wart remover that uses a dry formulation in the form of a stick? Within the last year a company called Balassa Laboratories has repackaged an old formula of a solid stick wart remover (previously packaged under the name PediFix). The newly packaged product, called WartSTICK, is now available at popular chain drugstores such as CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens on-line. Our concern? It looks identical to a container of lip balm. The active ingredient in WartSTICK is salicylic acid, which should NEVER come in contact with the lips or mucous membranes inside your mouth.

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Safer Choices for Pain Control After Wisdom Teeth Removal

Are you (or is someone you know) scheduled to have wisdom teeth removed? Pain after wisdom teeth removal is common, so dentists and oral surgeons may prescribe strong medicines that combine a common non-opioid pain medicine (such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or aspirin) with a stronger opioid pain medicine (such as codeine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone). Examples of such combination medicines are Lorcet Plus, Vicodin ES, Norco, Endocet, and Percocet, or generic equivalents of them. Opioids are effective in treating pain, but even short-term prescriptions can lead to dependence or addiction.

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Steps Parents Can Take to Help Their Child Safely Get Their Medicines at Camp

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Don't Reconnect the Tubes

When you visit someone in the hospital, you may be amazed to see how many tubes are connected to them. Sometimes one of these tubes becomes disconnected. But don't try to be helpful and reattach the tube. You could connect it to the wrong thing and cause serious harm.

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