Medication Safety - Research Paper Example

Medication Safety Turner Rick sought to analyze the issue of drug safety, patient safety, as well as medication safety, with a special attention to recent initiatives and guidelines from FDA. Pharmacotherapy as well as development of drugs is critical components to pharmaceutical medicine. The term ‘drug safety’ is used when it comes to evaluation of the correct prescription of medicine, as well as administration and dispensation of the same. Medication safety, on the other hand, revolves around errors that occur in the process of prescription, dispensation as well as at the level of administration.

Drug and medication safety form critical aspects of patient safety and have received great attention in the US in the recent past for the purpose of effective medical management. In particular, FDA has shown special attention in creation of awareness of importance in development of drugs as well as pharmacotherapy. It is committed at expanding as well as governance in processes of development of lifecycle drugs in the US. Its basic purpose is to ensure safety in medicine use (Turner, 4-8; Bollyky, 11).

There is a wave of considerable interest for improved patient safety in the US, with great advocacy by such teams as the FDA. Others are Institute of medicine, patient advocacy groups, companies of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticals as well as the media to name but least. The article affirms that all drugs have the capacity to cause adverse effects towards the well-being of the general population. It also confirms that all persons are susceptible to harm from poor medication hence the need to have the drug and general medication safety.

In defining safety, the report has it that it is the inverse of harm and explains that drug toxicity determine safety; the less the level of toxicity, the higher the levels of safety. The federal law requires that safety be upheld in drug use within the states. However, it is worth noting that safety may not necessarily mean zero risk and as such, all safe drugs depict the acceptable levels of risk. It is critical to carry out the benefit-risk assessment while using medical drugs in order to ascertain the safety and benefits of the drugs as used by the general population.

The assessment is done at two basic levels within the medical chain, which are at the public health level as well as at the patient-physician level. The estimation of benefits/ risks compares the estimated good over the estimated harm and as such, the index would be instrumental in explaining the safety levels of the drugs as they apply to the patients and general populations at large. The report highlights some recommended literatures that would be instrumental in enlightening the public on medication safety as a critical tenet in improved health.

Among these literatures are the ‘cardiac drug safety’, ‘drug-induced liver injury’ as well as ‘Risk characterization, assessment, Management as well as minimization’. Moreover, the report highlights some initiatives that are relevant in addressing the topic of drug safety. Such initiatives are the 2008 five-year on drug safety in the US, ‘employment of mitigation strategies and risk evaluation’, ‘sentinel initiative’ as well as initiative to ‘safety first/safe use’. In sum therefore, the article has been instrumental in outlining the objectives of FDA especially in the recent past concerning medication and drug safety in the United States.

However, just as is the case with all other regulatory bodies and agencies, FDA stands to be challenged and criticized for improving the regulation mandate. Personal opinion In a personal opinion, the FDA has adopted a very critical role in the economy, not just for the purpose of improving the levels of health to the public but also concerning economic performance and development. Monitoring bodies restores and ensures that sanity in such a sensitive sector is upheld at all times and at all costs.

Safety in medication presents a critical hurdle in healthcare management processes not only in the US but also across the globe. This therefore affirms the necessity to have all efforts geared towards ensuring safety of drugs in use through such risk-benefit evaluation at the health facility level as well as at the patient physician level. Relation to the Current Management Issues in Health Care in the US It is undoubtedly sure that the medical field in the US has made great steps towards the improvement of the insurance system and providing of the affordable health care at all levels.

Great efforts have seen to introduce such initiatives as the Obamacare and the universal health care plan meant to bring about success in improving the health conditions of the population. Furthermore, the ensuring of medication safety by the monitoring agencies like FDA are welcome initiatives, which are postulated to champion great revolution in the sector for the better. The success and fruitfulness of the physical initiatives implemented in the US concerning health care depends on other players as the regulatory bodies.

The combined efforts in the sector would revolutionize the healthcare management practices and in effect lead to realization of the set goals (“Improving Medication Safety”, para 1). . Works Cited Bollyky T. J. “Global Health Interventions for U.S. Food and Drug Safety A Report of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center.” 2009. 11. Web. 10 September, 2013. < http://csis.org/files/publication/091112_Bollyky_GlobalHealthInterventions_Web.pdf> Improving Medication Safety. “Committee Opinion.” ACOG. para 1. Web. 10 September, 2013.

Turner J. R. “Drug safety, medication safety, patient safety: An overview of recent FDA guidances and initiatives.” Regulatory Rapporteur, 6 (4), 4-8. Print.