A new study out of Massachusetts shows that 1 out of 10 prescriptions in the community hospitals studied contains a serious, and preventable, error. The handwriting isn't read correctly, or the wrong box is checked, or the drug isn't considered in context of the patient's whole regimen, or any of the countless other possible mistakes occurs and, as a result, patients get the wrong drug, or get sick, or don't get better, or, in the worst cases, die. And this could largely be fixed if the hospitals would install computerized records and prescription ordering systems, as they have in the (gasp!) socialized Veteran's Administration and most other countries. But, of course, we still have the best health care in the world. I hear that, in Canada, sometimes you have to wait a couple days to get your (non-error ridden, much-cheaper) prescription...
