Richard Hosking wrote:
Why don't we start with generic prescribing?
We do (in medical school) and teaching hospitals!
Unfortunately, it doesn't last long in Australia in the face of constant
exposure to brand promotion.
Is there any documented evidence that people have died as a result of
confusing brand names?
Yes! The US FDA have reported that of 400 deaths investigated due to
adverse drug reactions, 16 per cent involved name mix-ups.
Approximately 25% of errors reported to the US Institute for Safe
Medication Practices (ISMP) Medication Error Reporting Program involve
two drugs with look-or sound-alike names. While this can happen with
generic names it is more common with brand names.
Thus, NSW Health (Safety Advocate) on "Strategies to reduce medication
incidents" says "Encourage use of generic names in medication orders,
and reserve brand names for combination products".
See: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/s/pdf/safety_ad_2.pdf
Finally, especially for talking to patients about generic medicines and
generic substitution of an innovator brand, I recommend last months NPS
Newsletter: Generics explained, see:
http://www.nps.org.au/site.php?content=/html/news.php&news=/resources/NPS_News/news44
Cheers
Ken
--
Dr. Ken Harvey
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
School of Public Health, La Trobe University
http://www.medreach.com.au
VOIP: +61 (03) 9029 0634; Mobile +61 (04) 1918 1910
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