Medication errors in hematology-oncology ward by consultation: The role of the clinical pharmacologist

BACKGROUND: The aim was to describe, evaluate and document the prevention of medication errors by clinical pharmacologist consultations in patients with cancer. METHODS: We assessed the effect of clinical pharmacologist consultation by the acceptance of interventions recommended due to dosage, frequency, duration of therapy errors and drug-drug interactions (DDIs). All medication errors detected by clinical pharmacologist were reported in the format of medical consultation. A documentation template was designed to collect the patient’s data (sex, age, and diagnosis), prescriptions written, and drug-specific recommendations. For the descriptive analysis of medication errors, the unit of analysis was the number and percentage of errors. RESULTS: A total of 296 patients included in this study with a median age of 48.67±19.76 years of which 47.30% were females. 936 prescribing errors were detected and recommended for their correction. The specialist physicians accepted 897 of prescribed errors. DDIs that were detected in 66.22% of patients, were the most errors in this group of errors (47%). Improper dose (17.41%) wrong frequency (16.67%) and drug-food interaction (10.26%) were after that. CONCLUSION: Pharmacological consultation in the hematology-oncology ward revealed many medication errors. The trust of physicians in the views of the clinical pharmacologist led to a large part of these errors being accepted and resolved.