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Med errors justify screams

The Spokesman-Review

As of May 7, the CDC cited 896 confirmed cases of H1N1, swine flu, in the U.S.

The media has given swine flu 24/7 coverage with screaming headlines in papers and on television.

The May 6 Spokesman-Review had an article about the wrong prescription given to Lindsay Lindburg (“Her heart-stopping moment”). The article shows by the numbers that “Americans who get sick, injured or killed because of the misuse of medications” number more than 1.5 million. Source: Institute of Medicine 2006 report.

My question: Why aren’t there screaming headlines in the media about 1.5 million people “who get sick, injured or killed because of misuse of medications”? By the numbers was about the number of prescriptions filled and about people getting the wrong prescription, not “misuse” of drugs. Could “misuse” be a euphemism for wrong prescription?

Carol Leithead

Colville

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