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Case report of a medication error by look-alike packaging

Background: The acronym LASA (look-alike sound-alike) denotes the problem of confusing similar- looking and/or sounding drugs accidentally. The most common causes of medication error jeopardizing patient safety are LASA as well as high workload. Case presentation: A critical incident report of medication errors of opioids for postoperative analgesia by lookalike packaging highlights the LASA aspects in everyday scenarios. A change to a generic brand of medication saved costs of up to 16% per annum. Consequently, confusion of medication incidents occurred due to the similar appearance of the newly introduced generic opioid. Due to consecutive underdosing no life-threatening situation arose out of this LASA based medication error. Conclusion: Current recommendations for the prevention of LASA are quite extensive; still, in a system with a lump sum payment per case not all of these security measures may be feasible. This issue remains to be approached on an individual basis, taking into consideration local set ups as well as financial issues.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa.de:bsz:15-qucosa-162688
Date13 March 2015
CreatorsSchnoor, Jörg, Rogalski, Christina, Frontini, Roberto, Engelmann, Nils, Heyde, Christoph-Eckhardt
ContributorsUniversität Leipzig, Medizinische Fakultät, Universität Leipzig, Medizinische Fakultät, King\'s College, Hospital Clinics Abu Dhabi, Universität Leipzig, Medizinische Fakultät, Universität Leipzig, Medizinische Fakultät, BioMed Central,
PublisherUniversitätsbibliothek Leipzig
Source SetsHochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typedoc-type:article
Formatapplication/pdf
SourcePatient Safety in Surgery (2015) 9:12 DOI 10.1186/s13037-014-0047-0

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