Similar drug names, bottles cause thousands of mistakes annually

ABC World News (3/5, story 6, 2:55, Sawyer) reported on how some drug bottles look alike and how the FDA “said it gets thousands of reports of such mix-ups every year.” The FDA’s Dr. Gerald Pan said, “Today’s near-miss, today’s medication error that doesn’t cause harm to somebody could cause harm to someone tomorrow.” ABC noted the name-change for Kapidex (dexlansoprazole) last week, but “that still leaves several hundred sound-alike and lookalike drug combinations to go.”