September

The Canadian Adverse Events Study is the first national study of the incidence of adverse events in Canadian hospitals.[1] Published in May 2004, the study was based on methods developed by researchers at Harvard University to estimate adverse events in hospitals in New York State.[2,3] Other researchers have since further developed and used these methods in Australia,[4] England,[5] New Zealand,[6] and elsewhere.

A striking feature of modern medicine is the debilitating and lethal consequences of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), which rank as one of the top 10 causes of death and illness in the developed world,[1] claiming 100 000 to 218 000 lives in the United States annually.[2,3] The direct medical costs of ADRs in the US are US$30 to $130 billion annually.[1,2,4] These estimates are even more meaningful when compared with other high-cost diseases such as diabetes ($45 billion),[5] obesity ($70 billion),[6] and car

Improving the performance of skilled medical professionals is unlikely to be achieved by exhorting them to work better, faster, or more cheaply. They are already making decisions, planning their time, remembering key information, and preventing adverse events as well as the limits of human ability will allow. Further advances will require some form of assistance. Investing in technology to improve safety, as the automotive, aviation, and nuclear industries have done, is the next logical step.

The formation of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) was announced in December 2003 by the federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of health and funded as part of the government of Canada’s 5-year commitment to spend $10 million annually to develop strategies to support national patient safety initiatives.

The use of appropriate equipment and proper adherence to vaccine storage, inventory management, handling, and transport practices are vital to ensuring optimal potency of vaccines.

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