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Unlabelled: As many as 98,000 people die every year from preventable medical errors. Among pharmacists, the most common error reported is the selection of the wrong drug. Merck met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the optimization of the U.S. label for solid oral dosage forms of Merck medications. These discussions led to the development of revised label designs for six products that were then evaluated using failure modes and effects analysis and an expert review by human factors specialists. There were no errors among 425 filled prescriptions in the validation test of the final label. Key changes to the original labels include the use of a non-branded logo, high-contrast color bands for dosage strength, and an enhanced three-dimensional tablet image. The redesigned labels were approved by the US FDA in June 2011., Practical Applications: The redesigned label should improve the accurate selection of medications from pharmacy shelves., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.)

Medication errors have become a growing concern with the increase in the number of critically ill patients, in the complexity of drug therapy and in the use of more potent, dangerous drugs. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), a nonprofit organization founded three years ago, is in the forefront of medication error prevention efforts. Working with practitioners, regulatory agencies, healthcare institutions, professional organizations and the pharmaceutical industry, both nationally and internationally, ISMP provides timely and accurate medication safety information through its educational programs, site-reviews, and ongoing publications. This article reviews the work of ISMP and offers recommendations for managers to begin error prevention strategies.