*A HALF MILLION KIDS HURT ANNUALLY BY DRUG PROBLEMS IN HOSPITALS
*
* AP
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080407/NATION/771680227/-1/RSS_NATION_POLITICS&template=printart>*
- Medicine mix-ups, accidental overdoses and bad drug reactions harm
roughly one out of 15 hospitalized children, according to the first
scientific test of a new detection method. That number is far higher
than earlier estimates . . .
Researchers found a rate of 11 drug-related harmful events for every 100
hospitalized children. That compares with an earlier estimate of two per
100 hospitalized children, based on traditional detection methods. The
rate reflects the fact that some children experienced more than one
drug-treatment mistake.
The new estimate translates to 7.3 percent of hospitalized children - or
about 540,000 kids - each year, a calculation based on government data.
Simply relying on hospital staffers to report such problems had found
less than 4 percent of the problems detected in the new study.
The new monitoring method developed for the study is a list of 15
"triggers" on young patients' charts that suggest possible drug-related
harm. It includes use of specific antidotes for drug overdoses,
suspicious side effects and certain lab tests.
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