A Component of the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS)

To err is human. But receiving the wrong medicine, or the wrong dose of a medicine, could harm your health. The fact is, mistakes with medicines happen, but they are preventable. Things like sound-alike names, confusing product labels or problems with the way medicines are handled can lead to mistakes in health care.

Mistakes with medicines (and problems that could cause mistakes with medicines) are called “medication incidents”. When incidents are reported and reviewed, problems that could cause mistakes to happen can often be found and corrected. At the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada), our job is to study the causes of medication incidents and recommend ways to prevent them.

We believe that consumers can also play an active role in preventing mistakes in health care. That’s why we have created a new website, www.SafeMedicationUse.ca, that provides a way for consumers to report medication incidents to ISMP Canada. The website also provides useful suggestions on how to reduce the chances of a medication mistake happening to you or to someone in your family.

You can help prevent harmful medication incidents.
We are inviting you to participate in a pilot test of www.SafeMedicationUse.ca.
We invite you to:

• Visit our site to get information on the safe use of medication.
• Use our on-line reporting system to report a medication incident.
• Tell us what you think, by completing our online survey.
• Spread the news about www.SafeMedicationUse.ca to your family and friends.