Medication errors in pediatric population: Magnitude and interventions

2^nd International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs

November 23-24, 2012 Hyderabad International Convention Centre, India

Deepa Arora

Accepted Abstracts: Pharmaceut Reg Affairs

Abstract :

Medication errors are an important cause of iatrogenic morbidity and mortality. There is limited evidence to indicate that children may be more vulnerable to medication errors because of the need for a weight-based dosing approach and the increased sensitivity of children to relatively small dosing errors. Polypharmacy, the lack of effective communication between children and healthcare personnel as well as prescribing errors for example incomplete or illegible prescription, incorrect route or incorrect intravenous infusion are common errors. Off-label or unlicensed use in pediatric population also contribute to medication errors. As medication errors are preventable errors, these require special attention. Multifaceted interventions including all members of healthcare team, i.e. physician, nurses, pharmacists as well caretakers are required. Interventions to prevent medication errors include computerization of prescriptions, electronic medical records, voluntary and triggered reporting. As the incidence and type of medication errors vary widely with hospitals, local evaluation of the type, frequency and root cause of various medication errors as well as customization of corrective measures may be desirable. Magnitude of medication errors in pediatric population, their impact on society and interventions to reduce medication errors have been discussed in this presentation.

Biography :

Deepa Arora is a Physician having more than 15 years of experience in drug safety and clinical development in pharma industry and in academia. She has been in leadership and strategic roles in MNCs and Indian Pharma companies and successfully set up systems, developed teams and interacted with regulatory agencies in different regions including US, Europe, India and Australia. She has played an active role in developing awareness and skills of pharmacovigilance in the region by designing teaching modules for safety in medical institutions and training in pharmacovigilance workshops and courses. She is the author of the book ?Pharmacovigilance- An Industry Perspective?. She is working with Lupin Limited as the Global Head- Drug Safety & Risk Management.