U.S. FDA aims to fight avoidable harm from medicines

By Lisa Richwine

SILVER SPRING, Md. (Reuters) - U.S. health officials unveiled plans to fight avoidable injuries from medication errors or misuse, a problem that harms hundreds of thousands of people each year and can be deadly.

The Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday that a more coordinated effort was needed across the nation's healthcare system, and with patients and manufacturers, to reduce unnecessary complications from misuse, dosing errors, drug interactions or abuse.

The agency said it will work with doctors, nurses, patient groups and others to identify medicines linked to preventable complications and develop strategies to prevent them.

Manufacturers may be required to take steps to help minimize risks from specific medicines, FDA officials said. Some problems could be addressed through voluntary efforts such as education campaigns.

"Too many people suffer unnecessary injuries and some die as a result of errors or misuse that could have been prevented," the FDA said in a report.

Many problems "can be addressed only through coordinated interventions across all sectors," the agency added.

The Institute of Medicine estimates 400,000 hospital patients experience a preventable drug side effect each year. The number rises to 1.5 million when nursing homes and other outpatient settings are included.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said it was estimated that "up to half of all medication related injuries could be prevented using currently available knowledge."