Drug Safety
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It has been suggested that increased platelet activation increases the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with depression. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may attenuate platelet activation by serotonin depletion in platelets. Observational studies have shown discrepant results of AMI risk associated with the use of SSRIs. ⋯ The present analysis provides further evidence that the current use of SSRIs is associated with a slightly decreased risk for AMI.
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Medical errors have received national attention in the past few years, largely due to the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) 1999 report, which found that over one million injuries and nearly 100,000 deaths occur annually in the US as a result of medical errors. ⋯ Focusing error reduction efforts on selection of the correct drug and correct patient would likely yield the best results in reducing dispensing errors since these errors combined accounted for 55 (67.1%) of the 82 reported errors.