While chemotherapy errors are rare, they can have serious consequences, according to a new U.S. study.The study concluded that an error occurred in about one out of 30 chemotherapy orders at three ambulatory infusion clinics and that one in 50 orders involved a serious error. Most, but not all, of the errors were detected before they reached the patient and none caused any harm.Reporting in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Cancer, researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston reviewed more than 10,000 medication orders from three walk-in chemotherapy clinics using either computerized or paper medication ordering systems. The overall medication error rate was 3 percent, while the rate for serious errors was 2 percent, according to the study.
