Karen C. Nanji, MD, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the study’s lead author, and colleagues analyzed more than 275 procedures undertaken at the hospital.
Here are four points:
1. Researchers found a third of the errors resulted in patients being harmed.
2. The most common mistakes involved incorrect dosages being administered, symptoms indicated by a patient’s vital signs going untreated and mistakes in medication labeling.
3. Of the adverse drug events that could have led to patients being harmed, 30 percent were considered significant, 69 percent serious and less than two percent were deemed to be life-threatening.
4. Longer procedures, particularly those lasting more than six hours, had a higher rate of subsequent problems.
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