Q-Tip: From Local Quality Improvement to National Drug Recall

Abstract

Medication errors due to look-alike drugs put patients at risk and can be fatal. Neuromuscular blocking agents, such as vecuronium, can cause awake-paralysis in patients if administered as a single agent. Recent literature reported six cases in which vecuronium was inadvertently administered instead of the antibiotic drug cefazolin. This article describes a standardized quality improvement process used at The Johns Hopkins Hospital that was locally implemented following an adverse drug event and culminated in a nationwide FDA-mandated drug recall of vecuronium.