ANESTHETISTS, ERRORS IN DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND THE LAW

Aim. To document the problem of drug administration error in anaesthes ia in New Zealand, with regard to: prevalence (in context of the total number of drugs that might be administered during an anaesthetist's c areer); preventative strategies; and anaesthetists' perceptions concer ning the medicolegal environment prevailing in New Zealand. Methods. A questionnaire was posted to a random sample of 75 New Zealand anaesth etists. Drug administrations per anaesthetic were counted on a random sample of anaesthetic records at Green Lane Hospital. Ten anaesthetist s were asked the number of anaesthetics administered per year. Results . Eighty-nine percent of 66 respondents reported at least one error of drug administration, and 12.5% had actually harmed patients. There wa s no relationship between any preventative strategy and frequency of e rror. All respondents were concerned about the possibility of manslaug hter charges arising from a drug error; 57% thought the medicolegal en vironment in New Zealand impacted adversely on their practice; 83% tho ught it might impede the reporting of errors. There seems to be no def initive strategy for the elimination of drug error. Conclusion. Error is inherent in drug administration in anaesthesia, as it is in any com plex human endeavour; therefore it is illogical to treat it as necessa rily criminal. Instead, effort and resources should be aimed at ration al initiatives to reduce this worrying problem.