Medication Dispensing Errors And Prevention
July 2022
Each year, in the United States alone, 7,000 to 9,000 people die as a result of a medication error. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of other patients experience but often do not report an adverse reaction or other medication complications. The total cost of looking after patients with medication-associated errors exceeds $40 billion each year. In addition to the monetary cost, patients experience psychological and physical pain and suffering as a result of medication errors.
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Issue brief: Nation’s drug-related overdose and death epidemic continues to worsen
May 2022
The nation’s drug overdose epidemic continues to change and become worse. The epidemic affects every state and now is driven by illicit fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, methamphetamine, and cocaine, often in combination or in adulterated forms. More than 107,000 deaths were reported in the United States between December 2020 to December 2021.
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More than a million Americans have died from overdoses during the opioid epidemic
December 2021
Deaths due to drug overdose have topped a million for the first time since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began collecting data on the problem more than two decades ago.
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Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Top 100,000 Annually
November 2021
Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.
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The Drug Overdose Toll in 2020 and Near-Term Actions for Addressing It
August 2021
The emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 raised fears that already-rising drug overdose deaths could surge even further amid social isolation, economic stress, and disrupted access to treatment facilities and providers.
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The Opioid Epidemic: A Needed Focus On Adolescents And Young Adults
November 2019
Successfully addressing the US opioid overdose epidemic will require a strategy for adolescents and young adults (AYAs). Two in three adults treated for opioid use disorder (OUD) first used opioids when they were younger than age 25.
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August 2019
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives more than 100,000 U.S. reports each year associated with a suspected medication error.
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Leftover Opioids Available for Misuse
August 2017
Most patients who are prescribed opioids after surgery don't take all of the prescribed pills, leaving leftover opioids that could be used inappropriately, a new review of studies finds.
Non-health care facility medication errors resulting in serious medical outcomes.
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Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education and Advocacy (CPSEA) is dedicated to raising awareness about patient safety through education, advocacy, and support.
We envision a world in which the patient's voice is heard and no one is harmed by healthcare.