One of the serious risks that come with hospitalization is tied to the medication you receive while there. If you get too much or too little, you get it at the wrong time, or—worst case scenario, you get either the wrong drug or no drug at all—it can have a dramatic impact on your health and your recovery. According to a recent study, nearly four million people every year are victims of medication errors in the nation's hospitals. In response, many hospitals have implemented a system called … [Read more...]

Under its Medwatch program, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tracks instances where consumers have, for a variety of reasons, received the wrong pharmaceutical product. Over the last 15 years, the FDA has received nearly 100,000 reports from consumers who have been given the wrong drug. FDA officials express concern, though, that the numbers understate the problem, as all medication errors are reported on a voluntary basis. FDA representatives say that pharmaceutical errors occur for a … [Read more...]