More outpatient chemo errors than thought

WORCESTER, Mass., Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Seven percent of adults and 19 percent of children taking chemotherapy drugs in outpatient clinics or at home were given wrong doses, U.S. researchers say.

Study leader Dr. Kathleen E. Walsh of the University of Massachusetts Medical School did an analysis of data on nearly 1,300 patient visits at three adult oncology outpatient clinics and 117 visits at one pediatric facility between Sept. 1, 2005, and May 31, 2006. The data showed that errors in medication were more common than previously reported by oncology patients.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that of the 90 medication errors involving adults, 55 had the potential to harm the patient and 11 did cause harm. The errors included administration of incorrect medication doses due to confusion over conflicting orders -- one written at the time of diagnosis and the other on the day of administration.

Patients were also harmed by over-hydration prior to administration of medication, resulting in pulmonary edema and recurrent complaints of abdominal pain and constipation.

About 40 percent of the 22 medication errors in children had the potential to cause harm and four children were harmed. More than 70 percent of the errors in children occurred at home, Walsh said.