On-line tools to reduce Rx drug name confusion

14 September 2008

The problem of patients being given the wrong prescription drug as a result of a mix-up over similar-named products is being addressed in the USA by a series of initiatives. The Food and Drug Administration is planning a pilot scheme that will make drugmakers more involved in finding ways of overcoming this cause of prescribing errors, according to the Boston Globe. Other projects using on-line tools are already underway.

The US Pharmacopeia recently launched a page on its web site (www.usp.org) to allow patients and physicians to check whether the drug could be confused by name with another. A joint venture between the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and an on-line health information service iGuard.org is designed to send patients warnings about possible confusion about the name of specific agents. It is due to begin operations in the fall. The Globe alsoreports that about a quarter of the 1.5 million cases in the USA of prescribing errors is caused by similar-named products.

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