Study: Medication errors occur in half of surgeries

A new study from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that medication errors occurred during nearly half of the operations examined. Published in the journal Anesthesiology, the study found that a medication error or adverse drug event occurred in 124 of 277 surgical procedures.

The errors included drug labeling mistakes, incorrect dosing, errors in drug documentation, and failure to treat changes in vital signs during surgery. Of the 3,675 times medication was administered, 193 medication errors and adverse drug events occurred, with the study finding that 80% of those were preventable.

Read the abstract in Anesthesiology.