"...the number of emergency department (ED) visits due to children getting into medicines is rising, with more than 60,000 young children brought to an ED every year because they got into medicines while an adult wasn’t looking. CDC worked with the Georgia Poison Center on the first study to examine how effective devices called flow restrictors—adapters added to the necks of liquid medicine bottles to limit the amount of liquid that can come out of the bottle, even when turned upside down, shaken, or squeezed—can be for preventing young children from getting into liquid medicines."... Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

"The Institute of Medicine estimates that the rate of medication errors in hospitals is one error per patient per day. Part of what makes hospital care dangerous is complexity. In the US, it is common for patients to be on nine or 10 medications when they are admitted to the hospital."... by Bruce L. Lambert, William Galanter and Robert McNutt  QUARTZ

"At 8:30 to 9:30, we have what is called a medication safety time out," explained Patient Care Supervisor Sid Crocker. "Basically, this is a program designed to try to eliminate or cut down on as many medication errors as possible..."This program gives the nurses more time to concentrate on the medication, but also gives more time with the nurses to explain the medications that they're getting and this will lead to overall patient satisfaction," said Crocker."...
by Madeline Curott  NEWSPLEX.COM

"...once a drug is on the market and prescribed to hundreds of thousands or millions of people, it's not uncommon for safety problems or side effects to emerge that were never detected in the clinical trials that led to the drug's approval." by Steven Findly Health Policy Briefs

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning health care professionals about the risk for dosing errors with the antibacterial drug Zerbaxa (ceftolozane and tazobactam) due to confusion about the drug strength displayed on the vial and carton labeling." US Food and Drug Administration

"Beginning 13 June 2015, new plain language labeling regulations will take effect in Canada for prescription drugs, including biologics and radiopharmaceuticals. While the regulations do cover non-prescription drugs, the requirements will not take effect for them until 13 June 2017. Existing products will not be affected by the new regulations, as they do not apply retroactively, though the government expects existing products will eventually conform to the new regulations as labels and packages are updated. Additionally, the regulations do not affect other healthcare products such as medical devices, veterinary medicines or natural health products, which will retain current labeling requirements...."  by Michael Mezher   Regulatory Affairs Professional Society

"Based on an adverse drug event (ADE) algorithm, the new tool will help practitioners understand different types of medication-related events and determine if they are preventable or not. The tool also identifies decision points for determining whether an ADE is preventable..." by Loren Bonner, Reporter   American Pharmacists Association 

""If the medication is not delivered the medication is grayed out and the nurse will be unable to remove it," said Desai. "As soon as a pharmacy technician delivers a medication, it lights up. As a nurse, you don't have to go to the cabinet to find out if the medication has been delivered. A nurse can do it directly from a computer from anywhere in the nursing unit. It saves quite a few steps and time..."  by Anthony Vecchione, Contributing Writer  Healthcare IT News