Article: Researchers get $1.6 million NIH grant to address similar-sounding drug names.

2003 JUN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Institute of Medicine estimates that medication errors result in more than 7000 fatalities a year and a 2002 Food and Drug Administration report claimed that in the United States alone, medication errors made throughout the drug distribution system injure another 1.3 million patients a year.

Confusing nomenclature, labeling, packaging and handwriting bear some responsibility, but thousands of drugs with confusing look-alike and sound-alike names account for one-fourth of all reported errors.

A look at some of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the pharmaceutical arsenal suggests the extent of the ...

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