According to reports, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives approximately 100,000 medication error reports annually. In 2010, the FDA received only 16,689, but by 2018, the agency was receiving more than 100,000 reports per year. Experts point out that medication error reports are submitted on a voluntary basis,…
After a patient is prescribed a medication by their doctor, they assume that the medication provided by the pharmacy will help their condition. However, statistics show that there are a frightening number of pharmacy errors each year. Indeed, according to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that nearly 50…
A significant number of Maryland prescription drug injuries are caused by opioid use and abuse. Over the last decade, the number of deaths that were related to opioid medications has dramatically increased from about 35,000 in 2007 to over 70,000 in 2017. In an effort to curb these stark statistics,…
Medical errors, including Maryland pharmacy errors, are commonly believed to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States. However, the actual number of pharmacy errors is up for debate because, as is the case in Maryland, most states do not require pharmacists to report the vast…
Maryland medical errors – including misfilled prescriptions – are one of the leading causes of death in the state and across the country. Indeed, a 2016 study by Johns Hopkins concluded that, if properly tracked, medical errors would be the third-leading cause of death in the United States. However, due…
Chances are anyone who has followed the news over the past few months has noticed at least one serious pharmacy error occurring at either a hospital or a retail pharmacy. Indeed, the Food and Drug Administration estimates that there is on average one death per day in addition to approximately…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued draft revisions of pharmaceutical industry guidelines regarding “off-label” promotion of drugs. “Off-label” refers to information about uses of a drug that have not been formally approved by the FDA and are not included in its approved labeling. The agency has treated…
Pharmacies often rely on a team of medical professionals to meet the demands of customers. These teams consist of pharmacists, who must meet educational and licensing requirements in all U.S. states and the District of Columbia; and pharmacy technicians, who are not always subject to such strict credentialing requirements. Some…
Last month, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill, by a vote of 101 to 16, that would double the number of pharmacy technicians each pharmacist can supervise from three to six. The pharmacists remain responsible for signing off on all of the medication orders, regardless of whether they…
The lack of comprehensive regulations regarding compounding pharmacies is cause for great concern. For example, records and otherdocuments show that grave safety lapses, such as that which occurred at a Massachusetts pharmacy last fall linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak, was not an isolated occurrence. Alarming revelations predate the New…