Pharmaceutical errors while manufacturing medicines in pharmacies

Abstract

Pharmaceutical errors, as a separate category of medical errors, inflict moral and physical suffering on patients and are a heavy burden of guilt and proceedings for workers who have made them in their work. Missteps, inaccuracies, gross errors may be made while dispensing finished medicines and while compounding them in pharmacies. The quality of extemporaneous medicines directly depends on the competence and attentiveness of a pharmacist-assistant. The reporting system that exists in many countries makes it possible to obtain information about errors made while manufacturing. The article highlights seven cases of various types of pharmaceutical errors (substance underfeed, overdose of an active or an auxiliary component, noncompliance with manufacturing technology) while compounding drugs in different countries of the world (Canada, USA, Germany) as well as their causes and consequences for consumers.

Keywords

• medical errors
• extemporaneous formulation
• compounding