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Reporting a Medication Error

What Do We Do With Your Report?

At ISMP, we review incident reports submitted by consumers and healthcare professionals and look for ways to prevent harmful errors. For example, we may approach a manufacturer to suggest that the label of a product be changed, we may suggest safer ways for healthcare professionals to handle medications, or we may remind consumers of things they can do to avoid making mistakes with medications.

ISMP will:

  • Review your report
  • Look for system problems that could cause errors to happen
  • Prepare recommendations that are designed to prevent mistakes with medication
  • Send recommendations about medication safety to healthcare professionals and consumers
  • Notify the manufacturer if it is a product issue
  • Advocate throughout the healthcare system to promote changes to improve medication safety
  • Provide consumer-focused information and tips about medication safety on the ConsumerMedSafety.org website
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ISMP will not:

  • Investigate a complaint on your behalf with an organization or healthcare professional that is responsible for an error
  • Investigate the actions of individual practitioners
  • Report (for disciplinary purposes) the incident to professional authorities responsible for regulating the practice of healthcare professionals
  • Release or publish any information that could identify the reporter of an incident, a patient, a healthcare professional, or an organization involved in an incident

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More Safety Articles

Mark the Bottle!

Out of the corner of your eye, you catch your toddler drinking from his older brother's bottle of liquid medicine. You quickly call the Poison Help (1-800-222-1222). But when they ask you how much your child took, you frantically realize that you don't really know.

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Coming Soon! New Once-Weekly Insulin Pen

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Avoid Sore Eyes

Are you using eye drops to help relieve your sore eyes? If you overuse eye drops that contain decongestants (ingredients that shrink swollen blood vessels) such as naphazoline, tetrahydrozoline, or phenylephrine, it could lead to conjunctivitis--swollen, red, sore eyes with a liquid discharge. It could take weeks for this condition to clear up. Use your eye drops as directed on the label, or your red eyes may actually worsen.

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Replace Bottle Adapter with Childproof Cap after Using Liquid Medicine

Liquid medicines, especially those required for small children and pets, are often measured using oral syringes. Sometimes, there is a device that comes with the syringe called an adapter. This allows the oral syringe to directly attach to the bottle, eliminating the step of pouring the liquid into a cup for withdrawal by an oral syringe.Using a syringe adapter is a convenient way to accurately measure and administer liquids. However, depending on the actual product, parents should be aware they are not always childproof.

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