October 31, 2008

Purdue lecture series to focus on medication errors

The first lecture, "Medication Errors: A National Perspective," will take place at 4 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Purdue Memorial Union East and West Faculty Lounges. Cohen will discuss some of the issues associated with today's medication use systems. The presentation will include recent initiatives set up to address errors through the implementation of health policy-level prevention strategies. He also will present information regarding the most vulnerable components of medication use, the drugs that have the greatest potential to cause harm and the patients who are at greatest risk for a serious error.

The second lecture, "Protecting Consumers from Medication Errors: Integrating Lessons Learned with Professional Practice," will be presented at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 14 in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. Cohen will focus on how pharmacists and consumers can prevent medication errors, including practical tips for anyone who dispenses or uses medications. Cohen also will discuss some of the most common medication-related problems.

Both lectures are free and open to the public.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices is a nonprofit health-care organization that specializes in understanding the causes of medication errors and providing error-reduction strategies to the health-care community, policy-makers and the public. Cohen is a member of the Sentinel Event Advisory Group for the Joint Commission and recently served as a member of the Committee on Identifying and Preventing Medication Errors, Institute of Medicine. He also is co-editor of the ISMP Medication Safety Alert! publication, a member of the National Quality Forum's Voluntary Consensus Standards Maintenance Committee on Safe Practices and a consultant to the FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee.

Sponsors of the lectureship include Eli Lilly and Co., the Department of Pharmacy Practice, the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Purdue University.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Source: Dana Neary, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences manager of alumni relations and special events, (765) 494-2632, nearyd@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

To the News Service home page