WHO’s World Patient Safety Day 2022: Medication Without Harm
Sustaining medication safety and avoiding medication errors has become an urgent priority during the Covid-19 pandemic, due to a variety of factors including shortages of medical personnel. However, even prior to the pandemic, 41% of Americans reported having been involved with a medical error either personally or secondhand[1]. More than 7 million patients in the U.S. are impacted by medication errors every year.[2] Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of avoidable harm in healthcare across the world[3], leading the WHO to declare “Medication Without Harm” -- the new theme for World Patient Safety Day 2022.
“Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do – from the first patient that receives an experimental medicine or vaccine in a phase 1 clinical trial – to the millions of patients that rely on our marketed therapies every day.,” said Patrick Caubel, M.D., Chief Safety Officer at Pfizer. “We are proud to provide one of the one largest product portfolios with just over 330 products globally while maintaining one of highest industry pharmacovigilance compliance ratings.”
During the drug development process, Pfizer assesses potential situations that may lead to a medication error. We then use this information to minimize potential medication errors through product design, packing and labeling. This includes color-coding specific doses in medication packaging, and using patient-friendly language in our labels. Pfizer developed the CLEAR Health Literacy Checker with Northwestern University to ensure that we are following health literacy best practices in all our professional and patient education materials.
Another key component of Pfizer’s commitment to medication safety is educating patients and healthcare practitioners about counterfeit medicines, which is a global problem. Counterfeits, and the fake online pharmacies that sell them, are spreading in number and have become harder to detect. There are roughly 35,000 active online pharmacies and 95 percent of them operate illegally. The rapid proliferation of counterfeits, from 192 counterfeit incidents in 2002 to more than 5,000 in 2019, affects 137 countries and involving more than 2,000 medicines in almost every therapeutic category.
“The threat of counterfeits is not going away,” said Lev Kubiak, vice president and deputy chief security officer at Pfizer. “Pfizer is leading efforts to educate consumers about counterfeit medicines because patients need the knowledge to protect their health from counterfeiters.”
Counterfeit medicines may lack key ingredients and dosages, or contain added, harmful ingredients. As a result, patients who take counterfeits, including life-saving medicines for cancer and heart disease, lose the therapeutic benefits they rely on to treat their conditions.
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There are some simple ways that patients can take an active role in counterfeit medicines out of their homes, and avoiding errors while taking their medications:
1. Before you fill your prescription through an online pharmacy, make sure you purchase your medicines from a legitimate site. Legitimate pharmacies require a valid prescription, have a licensed pharmacist and a physical address, even if it is an online retailer. Check the NABP directory for accredited digital pharmacies.
2. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist to help guide your pharmacy selection. Pfizer is providing toolkits to health care providers to help guide conversations with patients about counterfeits to make sure patients have the resources they need to protect their health.
3. Once you have your medication at home, make sure you check the container's label every time you take a drug. This is especially important if you are taking several drugs because it will lower your risk of accidentally taking the wrong medicine.[1]
4. Keep drugs stored in their original containers. Many pills look alike, so keeping them in their original containers will help know the name of the drug and how to take them. If you are having trouble keeping multiple medications straight, ask your doctor or pharmacist about helpful aids.[2]
One of the main objectives of Patients Safety Day is to empower patients and families to be actively involved in the safe use of medication[3]. Patients can take control of their well-being by actively communicating with their healthcare providers and availing themselves of the information they need to making smart healthcare choices. At Pfizer, we are proud to partner with patients and healthcare providers to drive improved health outcomes that change patients’ lives.
[1] https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-consumers-and-patients-drugs/working-reduce-medication-errors
[2] https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-consumers-and-patients-drugs/working-reduce-medication-errors
[3] https://patient-safety-day.org/who-campaign.html#:~:text=6%20%E2%80%93%20%E2%80%9CGlobal%20action%20on%20patient,safety%20and%20reduce%20patient%20harm
[1] https://www.ihi.org/about/news/Documents/IHI_NPSF_NORC_Patient_Safety_Survey_2017_Final_Report.pdf
[3] WHO World Patient Safety Day Announcement, 2022
Educational Aide
1yThis is a joke, you put my daughter in a wheelchair with an ng tube during your covid vaccine trial for 12-15 year olds. No help from you at all, no call, no nothing. You are pure eveil. #maddiedegaray