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Any science journalists interested in picking up this story? ------------------------------------------------------------ I think this is just within the remit of this group, ie medicine/ science / risk management... Since medical-problem stories seem to be very topical in the media just now (esp TV) - I was wondering whether any of the journalists in this group might be interested in highlighting a maddening problem doctors generally, and anaesthetists in particular have regarding the stupid way many drugs (mainly those which come in small ampules) are labelled - namely in such a way that they are often very difficult to read!! The problem, in short, is simply that the regulations regarding exactly how the drugs are labeled (size of lettering, font, contrast, generic name, propriatory name, dose, concentration etc etc) seem to be almost non existant, with the effect that is seems to be left mostly up to the drug companies to do what they think is appropriate. Consequently, we often have ampules having the company name in HUGE lettering, propriatory name in HUGE lettering, whilst the important generic name, dose, concentration all in *microscopic* size !!!, and sometimes you need a magnifier to read them properly. All this is actually quite unacceptable from a risk management perspective - and so I would welcome the opportunity of highlighting this problem, with plenty of examples, in conjunction with an interested journalist. In practice, the labels would have to be very accurately reproduced to show the reader, and so access to a glossy-print medium would seem to be important. The average size of such rogue labels is approx 1.5 x 1 cm !! Not easy to read with bad lighting when you are in a hurry. Please contact me if at all interested. cheers, Dick --------------------------------------------------------------- Dr RWD Nickalls BSc, PhD, MBBS, FRCA. Consultant in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, Department of Anaesthesia, TEL: 0115-9691169 Ext45637 Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust, +44-115-9691169 Ext45637 Hucknall Road, Nottingham, NG5-1PB, FAX: 0115-9627713 UK. +44-115-9627713 email: [log in to unmask] Pager: 0115-9691169 --------------------------------------------------------------- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%