Medication Without Harm: Real-life stories A campaign by Martha’s parents led to years of investigations After six years, the coroner’s office confirmed that Martha had died from an adverse drug reaction, and that she should not have been prescribed lithium because of her heart defect A number of recommendations aimed at improving patient safety were made
Buddy - Compounding pharmacy error Buddy had died from a medication mix-up Upon analyzing the medicine remaining from Buddy’s prescription, the coroner found that the amount of medicine was precisely the amount required to produce the L-tryptophan mixture – but it was the wrong drug Someone in the lab had mistakenly used Baclofen powder instead of L-tryptophan powder
Medication Without Harm: Real-life stories A coroner’s investigation later confirmed that Martha had died of an adverse drug reaction, and that the heart defect, had it been communicated, would have been reason not to prescribe lithium Poor communication among doctors and between doctors and patients is a common cause of medication errors
Streets are for people; it’s time we give them back At the time, the coroner is reported to have said “this should never happen again” Sadly, road traffic crashes are now a routine occurrence, with a staggering 3700 fatalities each day; that’s one death every 24 seconds Many of those killed are children and adolescents