Medication errors injure more than 1.5 million yearly, study finds

From CNN.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Medication mistakes injure well over 1.5 million Americans every year, a toll too often unrecognized and unfought, says a sobering call to action.

At least a quarter of the errors are preventable, the Institute of Medicine said Thursday in urging major steps by the government, health providers and patients alike.

Topping the list: All prescriptions should be written electronically by 2010, a move one specialist called as crucial to safe care as X-ray machines.

Perhaps the report's most stunning finding was that, on average, a hospitalized patient is subject to at least one medication error per day.