Medication safety issue brief, Look-alike, sound-alike drugs

Abstract

Confusing drugs with similar names accounts for about 10 percent of all medication errors, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Last year, the American Pharmacists Association reported that there are more than 33,000 trademarked medication names in the United States and more than 9,000 generic names. The large number of medications--added to clinicians' heavy workloads, job stress, unfamiliarity with drug names and confusing, unclear orders, among other things--creates ample opportunity for confusion. A Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' National Patient Safety Goal requires that hospitals identify and annually review a list of look-alike and sound-alike drugs, at minimum, and take action to prevent errors involving the interchange of these drugs.