WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- Medication errors harm 1.5 million people and kill several thousand annually in the United States, a new study has found.
The study by the Institute of Medicine found that errors cost the nation at least $3.5 billion a year, The New York Times reported.
The report -- titled "Preventing Medication Errors" -- concluded that medication errors are so prevalent that patients in hospital patients should expect to encounter one error each day they are hospitalized, the newspaper said. Error rates vary by hospital, and most errors do not lead to injury, the report found.
The authors of the report recommend systemic changes including electronic prescribing of medications, and consumer education -- such as urging consumers to carry complete listings of medications they're currently taking, when they visit their doctors.
