Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’
‘Look-alike, sound-alike’ medicines are associated with dispensing errors. This commentary aims to fuel discussion surrounding how drug name nomenclature and similar packaging between medicines can lead to selection errors, the need for enhanced approval systems for medicine names and packaging, and...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Springer Science + Business Media
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29816 |
| _version_ | 1848752908178292736 |
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| author | Emmerton, Lynne Rizk, M. |
| author_facet | Emmerton, Lynne Rizk, M. |
| author_sort | Emmerton, Lynne |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | ‘Look-alike, sound-alike’ medicines are associated with dispensing errors. This commentary aims to fuel discussion surrounding how drug name nomenclature and similar packaging between medicines can lead to selection errors, the need for enhanced approval systems for medicine names and packaging, and best practice ‘solutions’. The literature reveals a number of environmental risks and human factors that can contribute to such errors. To contextualise these risks, we interviewed 13 quality and safety experts, psycholinguists, and hospital and community pharmacy practitioners in Australia, and commissioned a medical software industry expert to conceptualise electronic initiatives. Environmental factors contributing to such errors, identified through both the literature and interviews, include distractions during dispensing; workflow controls should minimise the ‘human factors’ element of errors. Technological solutions with some support, and yet recognised limitations, include font variations, automated alerts, barcode scanning and real-time reporting programmed into dispensing software; further development of these initiatives is recommended. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:16:05Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-29816 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:16:05Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Springer Science + Business Media |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-298162017-09-13T15:53:16Z Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ Emmerton, Lynne Rizk, M. Dispensing – Drugs – Errors – Human factors – Look-alike sound-alike – Medicines – Nomenclature – Packaging – Risks ‘Look-alike, sound-alike’ medicines are associated with dispensing errors. This commentary aims to fuel discussion surrounding how drug name nomenclature and similar packaging between medicines can lead to selection errors, the need for enhanced approval systems for medicine names and packaging, and best practice ‘solutions’. The literature reveals a number of environmental risks and human factors that can contribute to such errors. To contextualise these risks, we interviewed 13 quality and safety experts, psycholinguists, and hospital and community pharmacy practitioners in Australia, and commissioned a medical software industry expert to conceptualise electronic initiatives. Environmental factors contributing to such errors, identified through both the literature and interviews, include distractions during dispensing; workflow controls should minimise the ‘human factors’ element of errors. Technological solutions with some support, and yet recognised limitations, include font variations, automated alerts, barcode scanning and real-time reporting programmed into dispensing software; further development of these initiatives is recommended. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29816 10.1007/s11096-011-9595-x Springer Science + Business Media fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Dispensing – Drugs – Errors – Human factors – Look-alike sound-alike – Medicines – Nomenclature – Packaging – Risks Emmerton, Lynne Rizk, M. Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ |
| title | Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ |
| title_full | Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ |
| title_fullStr | Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ |
| title_short | Look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ |
| title_sort | look-alike and sound-alike medicines: risks and ‘solutions’ |
| topic | Dispensing – Drugs – Errors – Human factors – Look-alike sound-alike – Medicines – Nomenclature – Packaging – Risks |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29816 |