Trends in Postoperative Opioid Prescribing in Outpatient Pediatric Surgery.

Objective: To determine trends in opioid prescribing for home use after pediatric outpatient surgery.

Design: Retrospective analysis of a de-identified database.

Setting: Multispecialty children's hospital and freestanding surgery centers.

Quality-related events reported by community pharmacies in Nova Scotia over a 7-year period: a descriptive analysis.

Background: Quality-related events are defined as medication errors that reach the patient (e.g., incorrect drug, dose and quantity), in addition to medication errors that are intercepted before dispensing (i.

Estimated Costs of Pivotal Trials for Novel Therapeutic Agents Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, 2015-2016.

Importance: A critical question in health care is the extent of scientific evidence that should be required to establish that a new therapeutic agent has benefits that outweigh its risks. Estimating the costs of this evidence of efficacy provides an important perspective.

Objective: To estimate costs and assess scientific characteristics of pivotal efficacy trials that supported the approval of new therapeutic agents by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2015 to 2016.

Identifying health information technology related safety event reports from patient safety event report databases.

Objective: The objective of this paper was to identify health information technology (HIT) related events from patient safety event (PSE) report free-text descriptions. A difference-based scoring approach was used to prioritize and select model features. A feature-constraint model was developed and evaluated to support the analysis of PSE reports.

Developing recommendations for the safe handling of oral anti-cancer drugs in community pharmacies: A pan-Canadian consensus approach.

Purpose: To create a set of consensus-based and evidence-informed recommendations to provide guidance around the safe dispensing and handling of oral anti-cancer drugs in low-volume settings unique to the community pharmacy setting.

Methods: A review of published and grey literature (published in non-commercial domains such as national organizations and associations) documents and nine key informant interviews were conducted and a modified Delphi approach was taken to achieve consensus. The final list of 47 candidate recommendations was reviewed by a task force and validated by multi-disciplinary stakeholders.

Multifactorial Causes of Tacrolimus Errors: Confusion With Strength/Formulation, Look-Alike Names, Preparation Errors, and More Ensuring Safety of Recipes for Drug Compounding Please, no more teaspoon dosing.

A recent string of errors associated with tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant used primarily to prevent rejection in transplant recipients, prompted ISMP to review the literature and analyze related events reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and the ISMP National Medication Errors Reporting Program (MERP). We found that tacrolimus has been involved in many reported errors during the past decade that have been caused by a wide variety of factors, the most common of which are described below.

Assessment of Patterns of Potentially Unsafe Use of Zolpidem.

This study evaluates data from the US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to determine the extent of unsafe use of zolpidem.

Learning optimal opioid prescribing and monitoring: a simulation study of medical residents.

Objective: Hospitalized patients often receive opioids. There is a lack of consensus regarding evidence-based guidelines or training programs for effective management of pain in the hospital. We investigated the viability of using an Internet-based opioid dosing simulator to teach residents appropriate use of opioids to treat and manage acute pain.

An Analysis of Patient Safety Incident Reports Associated with Electronic Health Record Interoperability.

Background: With the widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) for many clinical tasks, interoperability with other health information technology (health IT) is critical for the effective delivery of care. While it is generally recognized that poor interoperability negatively impacts patient care, little is known about the specific patient safety implications. Understanding the patient safety implications will help prioritize interoperability efforts around architectures and standards.

ISMP Adverse Drug Reactions: Allergic Angina Caused by Fluconazole Rhabdomyolysis Caused by Risperidone High Incidence of Hyponatremia With High-Dose Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Lithium Carbonate-Induced Hypersalivation Persistent Hemorrhage After Idarucizumab Administration.

The purpose of this feature is to heighten awareness of specific adverse drug reactions (ADRs), discuss methods of prevention, and promote reporting of ADRs to the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch program (800-FDA-1088). If you have reported an interesting, preventable ADR to MedWatch, please consider sharing the account with our readers. Write to Dr.

ISMP Medication Error Report Analysis.

These medication errors have occurred in health care facilities at least once. They will happen again-perhaps where you work. Through education and alertness of personnel and procedural safeguards, they can be avoided.