Poor drug history documentation in admission medical notes: clerking prompts and junior doctor education alone do not significantly reduce errors.

Introduction: Poor drug history documentation on admission may lead to medication errors; a leading cause of avoidable harm.

Aims: To assess the quality of drug histories in the notes of patients admitted to an emergency assessment unit and impact of interventions to improve documentation.

Methods: Data were collected on the accuracy of documentation in 281 drug histories including errors of omission, frequency and dose.

Essential therapeutics skills required of junior doctors.

Junior doctors are responsible for the majority of in-hospital prescription errors. Little research has explored their confidence to prescribe, or practical therapeutics related tasks which they are required to perform in day-to-day practice. This survey aimed to explore these areas, gather feedback regarding therapeutics teaching at undergraduate level, and to apply findings to undergraduate training at University of Birmingham.

Adverse drug reactions: when the risk becomes a reality for patients.

Communications about the safety of medicines are complex and generally poorly performed. Discussions may not be initiated by healthcare professionals and the lack of a 'common language' to express risk can cause confusion. In the event of a serious adverse drug reaction, prior failures in communication can cause difficulties, and patients may fail to receive adequate information about the nature of their experience.

Internet accounts of serious adverse drug reactions: a study of experiences of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Background: Life-threatening adverse drug reactions (ADRs) such as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) continue to affect patients' lives long after the event. Survivors and their relatives rely heavily on Internet sources for support and advice, but narratives of their experiences posted on patient websites have not been explored previously.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to illuminate patient experience by analysing Internet narratives of drug-induced SJS and TEN and considering the reasons for postings on patient websites, and the concerns they reflect.

Patient experiences of serious adverse drug reactions and their attitudes to medicines: a qualitative study of survivors of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in the UK.

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) cause significant morbidity and mortality and account for around 6.5% of hospital admissions. Patient experiences of serious ADRs and their long-term impact on patients' lives, including their influence on current attitudes towards medicines, have not been previously explored.

Spinal cord compression: to biopsy, or not to biopsy?

A patient presenting with acute spinal cord compression initially thought to be secondary to metastatic cancer based on magnetic resonance imaging alone is described. No primary tumour was identified on further imaging, and although deemed to be technically very difficult, surgical decompression was postponed in favour of obtaining a histological diagnosis. Histology confirmed a low grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a diagnosis which would not have been considered had a biopsy not been undertaken.