Veterinary Medicine - September 2008 - (Page 489)

Leading Off to practitioners reporting adverse events is the availability of collated and analyzed data in a useful format. Thus, in addition to reporting adverse events, our responsibilities include insisting (perhaps by working with the AVMA) that the FDA-CVM and manufacturers provide and maintain a robust reporting system that returns relevant information to the profession in a timely, userfriendly fashion. some biological products, dietary supplements, diagnostic procedures, and medical devices. In contrast to drugs or vaccines, no federally mandated postmarket surveillance program exists for these products in veterinary medicine. Further, manufacturers are not compelled to share adverse event reports collected from practitioners or clients. Thus, adverse event reporting for these products will require practitioner demand for agencies that not only collect the information but allow its review in a user-friendly fashion by practitioners. Medication errors Medication errors, including administration of the wrong dose, interval, route, medication, or drug or to the wrong patient, are a problematic subset of adverse events. In human medicine, up to 30% or more of adverse events associated with serious injury are preventable in that they reﬂect medical errors on the part of caregivers.1,2 As such, these adverse events were preventable. Our profession has no information regarding the incidence and impact of medication errors. Yet they occur. As we improve our adverse eventreporting activities, we need to gain the self-conﬁdence that will allow selfcritique and, thus, facilitate medication error reporting. For example, because medication errors are more likely to occur (and more likely to be dangerous) in critical care patients, a Web site that allows anonymous entry of the adverse incident might be considered by veterinary emergency and critical care specialists. Such a Web site might begin the dialogue necessary for recognizing a potential problem. CONCLUSION Through emerging molecular biology techniques, the last two decades have enjoyed a stunning improvement in the understanding of the pathophysiology of diseases in people and animals. Although the one medicine concept is commonly embraced at the molecular level, the clinical application of such information must be applied to a population of the target species at risk. It is at the point of clinical application that the one medicine concept begins to fail. By deﬁnition, clinical research must be implemented in the target species, precluding extrapolation of data from other species. Accordingly, it is practitioners’ responsibility to help investigators translate basic research in the clinical arena, whether through participation in clinical trials or adverse events reporting. It is only through these types of clinical research that new medical knowledge critical to the maintenance and improvement of high-quality patient care will continue to emerge. REFERENCES EPA-registered products Although the pathway to report adverse events is clear for approved drugs and vaccines, it is less clear for EPA-registered insecticides and parasiticides (the EPA has a limited role in veterinary adverse event reporting), 1. Woods D, Thomas E. Frequency, types and severity of preventable adverse events in children. Abstr Acad Health Serv Res Health Policy Meet, 2002. 2. Gurwitz JH, Field TS, Harrold LR, et al. Incidence and preventability of adverse drug events among older persons in the ambulatory setting. JAMA 2003;289(9):1107-1116. VETERINARY MEDICINE September 2008 489 http://www.oralatp.com http://www.oralatp.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Veterinary Medicine - September 2008

Veterinary Medicine - September 2008 Contents Leading Off Practical Matters Idea Exchange A Challengin Case: Thymic Cyst and Recurrent Chylothorax in a Cat 10 Life-Threatening Behavior Myths CE Form Advertiser Index Marketplace/Classifieds Mind Over Miller

Veterinary Medicine - September 2008

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