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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Polypharmacy Can Be a Problem for You!

As people age, they often have more health problems. Many of these problems can be treated with medicines. Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, and the inability to sleep may require long-term medicines to manage these conditions. When numerous different medicines (e.g., 5 or more) are taken at the same time, it is called polypharmacy.

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Don’t Confuse “Rescue” and “Maintenance” Inhalers

Inhalers are devices that contain medicines used to treat asthma and several other diseases that affect the lungs. By inhaling the medicine from the device, asthma sufferers and people with other lung diseases can breathe easier. It is important to learn how to properly use an inhaler and when to use it. This is especially true for people with asthma. Asthma is a breathing condition that affects both children and adults. Many people often need more than one medicine/inhaler to treat their asthma.

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Accidental Poisonings of Babies - Birth to 6 Months: How They Happen and What You Can Do to Prevent Them

Medicines are a leading cause of accidental poisonings in young children. When we think about this, older babies and toddlers who can scoot, crawl, walk, and/or climb come to mind. Older babies and toddlers are curious and explore their world by “mouthing” the items they find. If they see something that looks interesting, they often reach for it or climb to it. Therefore, it is important to keep medicines and other potentially toxic products up and away and out of the sight and reach of children.

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An Inquisitive Patient Is a Safe Patient...Be Persistent

If you are hospitalized, nurses will typically give you the medicine your doctor has prescribed. But if the medicine the nurse brings to you doesn’t seem right, it might be that an error has happened. You may be hesitant to speak up about the potential problem. You may believe your doctor and nurse know more about medicine than you do. But in some cases, your instincts may be right, as in the example that follows.

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