Top 9 common ophthalmic drug mistakes made by eye care professionals: a blog that tackles common errors doctors make when prescribing for their patients.

Drug mistakes are typically not reported, which makes it difficult to establish the true incidence rate. However, there have been recent articles in the medical literature that report this type of error and also discuss strategies, both technical and educational, to reduce them.

There is no doubt that with the introduction of new drugs, more complex pharmacotherapy, and increasingly busy clinical practices, the opportunity for making such mistakes is greater than ever.

Knowledge of these common errors may result in improved patient outcomes and increased patient safety.

Opthalmology Times is a publication for eye care professionals. Articles cover everything from new developments in ophthalmic surgery to how to prescribe the right drugs for patients. One recent article, “9 common ophthalmic drug mistakes made by eye care professionals,” does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a blog that tackles common errors doctors make when prescribing for their patients.

While many of the mistakes are specific to those with medical training, the article offers a lesson in critical thinking that anyone can learn from. In fact, I think we should all be familiar with them as they could help improve our judgment, whether it’s deciding which medical professional to trust or which politician to vote for. Let’s take a look at each one and see what we can learn from them:

Mistake

Optometry and Primary Care Ophthalmology Today (OPCOT) is a blog that tackles common errors doctors make when prescribing for their patients. The blog also provides information pertaining to the latest advancements in ophthalmic care, as well as helpful tips and tricks to improve doctors’ workflow.

The Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company, or OMIC, is a risk-sharing mutual insurance company specializing in medical malpractice insurance for ophthalmologists. In this blog article, they discuss common mistakes made by eye doctors when prescribing medication. The introduction sets up the problem of doctor error and the resulting consequences and then explains what the article will cover.

The first section of the article discusses bad handwriting and how it can lead to prescription errors. In this section, we get a direct quotation from one of their ophthalmologist clients about his own experience filling out prescriptions and how he has worked to improve his handwriting as a result. The second section discusses drug names that look or sound alike and how these can lead to trouble if confused. The third section talks about abbreviation errors, where doctors may use abbreviations for drugs that are not standard or well known. The fourth section discusses dosing errors including improper units of measure and instances where drug dosages are too high or too low. The fifth section discusses drug allergies and how doctors need to be careful to consider all possible allergies when prescribing medication. The sixth section discusses refraction errors, including instances where refractive errors are not properly addressed or when the wrong type of refractive correction is prescribed due to an error in process

It’s a drug.

Opioid analgesics are commonly prescribed by primary care providers, dentists and ophthalmologists. They are also over prescribed and misused by some physicians. To combat this problem, the CDC has released 12 guidelines for safer opioid use. The guidelines are evidence-based and aim to improve patient safety while reducing misuse and abuse.

If you prescribe opioids, we recommend that you follow these guidelines closely:

1. Use opioids only when benefits outweigh risks. Use non-opioid alternatives or non-pharmacologic therapies where possible. If drugs are used as first-line treatment, start with a low dose and prescribe a short initial supply.

2. Prescribe immediate release (IR) opioids instead of extended release (ER) or long acting (LA) if possible for acute pain, since IR is more effective for episodic pain than continuous therapy.

3. When starting therapy, prescribe the lowest effective dose of IR opioids for the shortest duration necessary to control pain and give the patient an informed choice by discussing risks and benefits of ER/LA opioids versus IR opioids or other treatment options including acetaminophen or NSAIDs, non-opioid medications, adjunctive therapies, local therapies and rehabilitation

1. Using the wrong brand of drug:

Using a generic or a different brand of a particular drug can alter its effectiveness and may cause side effects. For example, triamcinolone acetonide is available in many different brands in India, but only one brand is given for intravitreal use.

2. Inadequate dose:

It is very important to give the right dose of a drug to achieve the desired effect. For example, if you are giving Dexamethasone 0.1% eye drops to treat an anterior uveitis and want to suppress the inflammation completely, you need to give at least 4-6 drops/day rather than 2 drops/day as mentioned in the standard textbooks.

3. Inappropriate duration of treatment:

Many practitioners do not know how long they should continue a particular topical ophthalmic medication they are giving to their patients. As a thumb rule, if I am prescribing an antibiotic eye drop for bacterial conjunctivitis, I generally prescribe it for 5 days even if the patient gets better within 3 days; this is because I don’t want any secondary bacterial infection to develop when I stop the antibiotic drop too early. Similarly, if I give dexamethasone

A new study found that more than half of eye care professionals aren’t using the best drugs for their patients.

Most patients, especially those with very dry eyes, have a hard time finding relief from over-the-counter artificial tears. If you’re one of them, you should consider talking to your doctor about prescription eye drops.

But here’s the catch: not all prescription eye drops are created equal. And unfortunately, many doctors don’t know which drugs are best for different conditions.

A recent study published in the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery showed that 54% of eye care professionals aren’t prescribing the best drugs to treat their patients’ dry eyes. It also showed that most doctors don’t understand how to use these drugs properly.

The study surveyed 325 ophthalmologists and optometrists who were attending an educational course on dry eye therapy. In addition to assessing their knowledge about prescription eye drops, the researchers also asked them to estimate how often they used each drug.

Ocular surface disease is one of the most common problems seen by eye care providers today. It can cause a wide range of symptoms including redness, itching, burning and blurred vision.

One type of ocular surface disease is blepharitis, an inflammation