The PSNet Collection

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

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Drug Enforcement Administration. October 29, 2022.

Removing unused medications from the home can help prevent accidental exposure to unneeded medications and limit their availability for misuse. This annual program provides patients with an opportunity to discard medications safely. The sponsors also provide education to highlight the importance of appropriate disposal of unused prescription drugs as a medication safety activity.

Proposed 2022 CDC clinical practice guideline for prescribing opioids. A notice by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Fed Register. February 10, 2022;87: 7838-7840.

The 2016 Centers for Disease Control opioid guidelines have raised concerns as to their potential to contribute to patient harm. This announcement calls for comments from the field to inform and update current policy in response to safety issues that emerged as unintended consequences of the 2016 recommendation. Comments are due to be submitted by April 11, 2022.

Medication safety issues with newly authorized PAXLOVID.

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Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Medication Safety Alerts. January 3, 2022.

Emerging care practices can produce unsafe situations due to the newness of the approaches involved. This alert highlights safety considerations with an oral antiretroviral COVID treatment that include medication administration problems. Safety recommendations are provided for prescribers and pharmacists.

Age-related COVID-19 vaccine mix-ups.

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National Alert Network. Horsham, PA: Institute for Safe Medication Practices; Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. December 6, 2021.

Vaccine missteps are known to occur during flu and COVID-19 inoculation efforts. This announcement raises awareness of misadministration of COVID vaccines associated with patient age. It highlights storage protocols as one approach to minimize mistakes. This alert is part of a national program to distribute learnings from report analysis to improve medication safety.

Potential for medication overdose with ENFit low dose tip syringe: FDA Safety Communication.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; October 12, 2021.

This announcement highlights the possibility of medication administration inaccuracy due to design characteristics of a low dose tip (LDT) syringe. Recommended cleaning methods and other actions for patients, families and clinicians are provided to protect dose precision when using these syringes.

Canadian Patient Safety Week.

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Healthcare Excellence Canada

This site provides promotional materials for an annual awareness campaign on patient safety that takes place in the autumn. The 2021 observance, focusing on the importance of essential care partners, was held October 25th through 29th.

2020 Eisenberg Award recipients announced by The Joint Commission, National Quality Forum.

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Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission: June 8, 2021.

The Eisenberg Award honors individuals and organizations who have made critical achievements toward patient safety and quality improvement. The 2020 honorees are Dr. David Gaba, Veterans Health Administration Rapid Naloxone Initiative, Washington, DC, and Northwestern Medicine Academy for Quality and Safety Improvement, Chicago IL. The awards will be presented virtually during the National Quality Forum's annual meeting in July.

Hospira issues a voluntary nationwide recall for one lot of 0.5% Bupivacaine Hydrochloride Injection, USP and one lot of 1% Lidocaine HCl Injection, USP due to mislabeling.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; May 4. 2021.

Anesthesia medications can be high risk should dosing errors occur. This company announcement reports a recall of two lots of anesthetics that have been mislabeled to mitigate the potential for patient harm due to misinformation.

Fellowships and Mentorships Program.

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Institute for Safe Medication Practices.

These educational programs with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) are for clinicians who wish to expand their practical knowledge of medication error prevention. The application process for the 2022-2023 fellowships has closed.

Apotex Corp. issues voluntary nationwide recall of Enoxaparin Sodium Injection, USP due to mislabeling of syringe barrel measurement markings.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; February 3. 2021.

Recalls of medical products due to labeling errors are an established proactive safety strategy. This announcement highlights an anticoagulant packaging mistake that could result in dosing errors.

Meitheal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. issues voluntary nationwide recall of Cisatracurium Besylate Injection, USP 10mg per 5mL due to mislabeling.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; January 27, 2021.

Labeling mistakes in the pharmaceutical production cycle can remain undetected until the affected medication reaches a patient. This alert reports a recall of a neuromuscular blocker for use in surgery due to it being mislabeled as a medication to increase blood pressure.

FDA updates vinca alkaloid labeling for preparation in intravenous infusion bags only.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; January 15, 2021.

Vinca alkaloid misadministration is a persistent problem that results in patient harm and death. This alert raises awareness of label changes that aim to mitigate accidental spinal administration of the high-alert chemotherapy agent by supporting infusion bag administration only.

Best Practices in Developing Proprietary Names for Human Nonprescription Drug Products.

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Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research; December 7, 2020.

Nonprescription drugs are commonly associated with medication errors. This draft guidance seeks to provide a structure for industry to reduce instances of drug name confusion in nonprescription formulas of prescription medications. It describes the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vetting process for drug names to improve naming actions prior to submission to the agency. The timeline for submitting comments is early February 2021.

FDA advises health care professionals and patients about insulin pen packaging and dispensing.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; October 13, 2020.

Insulin use errors are common despite their heightened potential for patient harm. This announcement highlights labeling and storage practices to reduce dispensing and administration errors associated with individual insulin pen use.

Dangerous wrong-route errors with tranexamic acid.

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National Alert Network for Serious Medication Errors. Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and Institute for Safe Medication Practices. National Alert Network. September 9, 2020.

This announcement highlights container confusion as a contributing factor for accidental spinal injection of tranexamic acid. Storage, purchase, and preparation recommendations are shared to minimize errors with this medication.

FDA recommends health care professionals discuss naloxone with all patients when prescribing opioid pain relievers or medicines to treat opioid use disorder.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration. July 23, 2020.

Accidental misuse of prescription opiates for pain can result in addiction, overdose and death. This announcement outlines new federal labeling requirements for opiates and treatments for opioid use disorder. The FDA calls for health care professionals to educate patients about naloxone when prescribing opioid medications to improve the safety of patients taking opiates.

FDA alerts health care professionals to the temporary absence of warning statement on the vial caps of two neuromuscular blocking agents.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration. June 2, 2020.

Neuromuscular blocking agents are high alert medications that can severely harm patients if used incorrectly. This announcement alerts clinicians to the absence of warning statements on two types of paralyzing agents, as well as to steps to minimize mistaken use.

FDA alerts patients and health care professionals of EpiPen auto-injector errors related to device malfunctions and user administration.

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FDA alerts patients and health care professionals of EpiPen auto-injector errors related to device malfunctions and user administration. MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration. March 24, 2020.

Device related errors reduce the safety of medications. This announcement highlights concerns associated with the use of epinephrine auto-injectors. Recommendations to address the problem include patient review of instructions and practice with the device to ensure its effective use in emergent situations.

A Decade of Patient Safety 2020-2030

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A Decade of Patient Safety 2020-2030. Geneva, Switzerland; World Health Organization: February 2020.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a primary motivator for global patient safety improvement. This initiative announcement outlines the overarching WHO approach to implementing an international resolution to integrate institutional programs across health care to enhance care delivery and reliability.

FDA identifies harm reported from sudden discontinuation of opioid pain medicines and requires label changes to guide prescribers on gradual, individualized tapering.

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Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; April 9, 2019.

Efforts to address the opioid epidemic range from regulation to changes in pain management. This safety announcement raises awareness of potential harms associated with rapidly decreasing the dose of or discontinuing opioids for patients who may be physically dependent on the medication. It also announces a requirement regarding changes to prescribing information for opioids to provide expanded guidance on how to safely taper doses. Health care providers should discuss tapering plans with patients and provide ongoing monitoring and support.

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