Medication harm tops list

PATIENT harm during healthcare is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality internationally, and incidents related to drugs are the most prevalent causes of preventable patient harm in medical care, according to a UK meta-analysis.

Data from 70 studies meeting the research criteria involved 337,025 patients to reveal that around 50% of all patient harm while in medical care was preventable.

The pooled prevalence for preventable patient harm was 6%, or more than one in 20, with 25% of those, caused by medication errors.

Other treatments accounted for 24% of preventables, with risk of harm greater in advanced specialties (intensive care or surgery) than in general hospitals.

A significant 12% of preventable harm was severe, led to permanent disability or to death, the authors of the study wrote.

“Developing and implementing evidence-based mitigation strategies specifically targeting preventable patient harm could lead to major service quality improvements in medical care which could also be more cost effective,” they concluded.

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