Name Confusion Research Articles

Name Confusion with New COX-2 Inhibitor Ambiguous Abbreviation “EPO” Handwritten Ampersands Misread Avoiding Mix-ups with Hydroxyzine and Hydralazine

These medication errors have occurred in health care facilities at least once. They will happen again–perhaps where you work. Through education and alertness of personnel and procedural safeguards, they can be avoided. You should consider publishing accounts of errors in your newsletters and/or presenting them in your inservice training programs. Your assistance is required to continue this feature. The reports described here were received through the USP Medication Errors Reporting Program, which is presented in cooperation with the Institute of Safe Medication Practices. If you have encountered medication errors and would like to report them, you may call USP tool-free, 24 hours a day, at 1-800-233-7767 (1-800-23-ERROR). Any reports published by ISMP will be anonymous. Comments are also invited; the writer's names will be published if desired. ISMP may be contacted at the address shown below.

'Z-Pak' vs Ice Pack: Need for Clarity and Continuous Quality Assurance

To the Editor. —Pharmaceutical brand name confusion is an important problem. 1 We have encountered an example of such confusion when an order for a Z-Pak was misinterpreted as an order for an ice pack. Zithromax capsules of azithromycin are available as red, opaque, hard-gelatin capsules prepackaged in a blister card of 6 capsules, which is called a Z- Pak. The Z-Pak card includes standard dosing instructions for the patient, which allows physicians to write a prescription for the drug by simply writing the term Z- Pak on the prescription form without including specific dosing instructions. This abbreviated ordering method resulted in the following therapeutic misadventure. A 49-year-old woman was admitted with new onset of pleuritic chest pain and purulent sputum and had a new infiltrate apparent on the chest x-ray film. An order was written in the hospital inpatient chart for a Z-Pak. The order included no specific dosing instructions

Computer-based prediction of medication name confusion

Computer-based prediction of medication name confusion

Predicting drug name confusion

Predicting drug name confusion

Prescription errors. Legibility and drug name confusion.

Inadvertent drug substitution occurred in several instances in our practices due to the combination of the physician's illegible handwriting on prescriptions and the pharmacist's misinterpretation of subtle clues, which might have prevented the errors. The literature on the legibility of physician handwriting is reviewed. Our specific recommendations include using preprinted prescription pads, training staff assistants who write prescriptions, printing complete directions on each prescription, and aggressively educating each patient about the name and purpose of all drugs being prescribed. Patients are encouraged to bring their medications to each office visit to identify potential errors.

Effect of reactive pharmacy intervention on quality of hospital prescribing.

To evaluate the medical impact of reactive pharmacy intervention. Analysis of all interventions during 28 days by all 35 pharmacists in hospitals in Nottingham. All (six) hospitals in the Nottingham health authority (a teaching district), representing 2530 mainly acute beds, 781 mental illness beds, and 633 mainly health care of the elderly beds. Hospital inpatients and outpatients. Recording of every important intervention made by pharmacists to prescriptions for both inpatients and outpatients when they perceived inadequacies of drug prescription or administration, including characterisation of the problem, coding of outcome, recording of time taken to initiate and resolve intervention, and grade of prescribing doctor. The problems were independently assessed for their potential to cause medical harm. 769 Interventions (about 2.9% of prescriptions) were made, of which 60 concerned prescriptions rated as having a major potential for medical harm. The commonest problems concerned dosage, which was wrong in 280 prescriptions (102 for antibiotics) and not stated in 50 (one for antibiotics), especially those associated with a major potential for medical harm (32 prescriptions). These concerned sedatives; analgesics; cardiovascular drugs or diuretics; and iron, vitamin, or mineral preparations. Also common were overprolonged prescription of antibiotics (48 prescriptions), confusion of drug names (nine), and inadvertent coprescription of excessive quantities of aspirin or paracetamol in plain and compound preparations (seven). The pharmacist's recommendation was accepted in 639 instances (86%), and the prescription was altered in 575, leading to an appreciable (246 cases) or minor (231 cases) improvement. Interventions had little effect on costs; 427/646 had no effect and 130 produced savings less than 50p. Pharmacy intervention (730/769 interventions) occupied on average 41 minutes per pharmacist per week. Most reactive pharmacy interventions concerned prescribing errors with a limited potential for medical harm, but a small number of detected errors with a major potential for medical harm; cost savings were not appreciable.

Notes sur le dirigeant babouviste Robert François Debon

Jean-Marc Schiappa, Notes on the Babouvist leader Robert-François Debon. This study has been carried out by cross-checking a series of unpublished or little-known sources and has led to the identification of one of the protagonists of the conspiration des égaux, mentioned by Buonarotti and for a long time victim of a confusion of names. We discover here a strong personality whose career was extraordinary and who remains appealing by the rectitude of his life. It is better known thanks to this study which retraces its various stages.

Confusion of place names; an example from Antarctica

AbstractPlace names in the Hughes Bay area, Danco Coast, Antarctica well illustrate naming problems that give rise to confusion or ambiguity. This note shows the origins of conflicting place names, providing a warning to scientists and others and a key of foreign equivalents to some of the names accepted for British official use.

Funaria americana Lindb. in North America

The distribution of Funaria americana Lindb. is middle and eastern North American. Reports from western North America are excluded. The species appears to be a strict calciphile with a distribution that corresponds to Pleistocene glacial and postglacial phenomena. Funaria americana Lindb. is one of the rarer mosses in North America, but has a comparatively wide distribution. Grout (1935) reported its range as Georgia, Min- nesota, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Bartram (1928) had listed California-possibly according to Jennings (1913)--but this record was correctly dismissed by Grout (1935). More recently Lawton (1971) listed an expanded distribution including Illinois, Montana, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin, and the Canadian Rocky Mountains. A comprehensive literature and herbarium survey was conducted to confirm the validity of the above reports. Historical comments. Funaria americana was initially collected in Pennsylvania by the pioneer botanist and Lutheran minister Heinrich Ludwig Muhlenberg prior to 1800. The material was sent to Johann Hedwig and referred to in manuscript under the name Funaria muhlenbergii. Early misinterpretation of American material and European materials has led to much nomenclatural confusion and misapplication of names. A recent study of related European taxa by Crundwell and Nyholm (1974) attempted to identify type ma- terials and render sense from the list of illegitimate and synonymous names. In short, Funaria americana is strictly a North American species that has been often confused with the North American-European Funaria muhlenbergii Turn. and related species. The second collection of F. americana came from the mountains of northern Georgia. Leo Lesquereux made the discovery in 1850 and supposedly conveyed a specimen to William S. Sullivant in 1871. There is no mention of this material by Sullivant (1874) although a specimen packet without contents is in the collection at NY. While this record can not be confirmed, a letter (NY) from E. G. Britton to John Holzinger in 1901 relates the details of the collection locality. Besides the Muhlenberg and Lesquereux collections, two other collections were made prior to 1900. Thomas P. James rediscovered the Pennsylvania locality in 1871, and pro- vided a liberal amount of material for distribution. Mrs. E. J. Spence made a small col- lection from a . .. rocky ravine near Springfield, Ohio, in 1891. Collections and reports chronicled since 1900 are more numerous. Most important are reports by Holzinger (1902) from Minnesota, Hill (1916) from Illinois, Bartram (1928, 1929) from Texas, Cheney (1929) from Wisconsin, Sharp (1930) from Oklahoma, Smith (1966) from Kansas, Smith (1975) from Tennessee, and Crum (1954) from San Luis Potosi, Mex- ico. Specimens that form the basis for reports from Montana, Washington, and the Ca- nadian Rocky Mountains represent other taxa, usually F. muhlenbergii.

Dispensing Errors Detectable by Inspection (II)

The number of dispensing errors occurring in hospital pharmacy and being detectable by inspection was studied by simple statistical method. Errors in calculation occurred most frequently. They often occurred 1) when new graduates are employed; 2) after vacation; 3) when places of vials of powder medicines are changed; 4) through carelessness; 5) in confusion of one drug with another with similar name. Errors in confusion of the product names were analyzed by Pragnanz theory by Max Weltheimer. The names containing 4-7 common alphabetic letters most often caused confusion. Also, names with 1-3 common first letters were confused most frequently.

Cultivars of Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia chinensis) in New Zealand

The lack of detailed descriptions of the cultivars of Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia chinensis Planch. var. chinensis Li) grown commercially in New Zealand for export as kiwi fruit to United States has led to some confusion in naming. This paper provides recognition features of two male and six female cultivars. The plants studied were grown near Auckland at Oratia Research Orchard of the Plant Diseases Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Auckland. It is believed that all the cultivars grown commercially in New Zealand came from one line of seed and that the first vine from this seed fruited in 1910 (Mouat 1958). The subsequent development of cultivars is a reflection of the variability of Chinese gooseberry, a feature so prominent that it creates difficulties in finding characters that are sufficiently distinctive and consistent to separate the cultivars. The following characters, taken in combination, give adequate separation of the cultivars at flowering and fruiting.

Differences in Naming Muscles of the Pelvic Limb of Chicken

Thirty-five muscles of the thigh and shank in large meat type chickens were dissected. Identification was verified by reference to authorities in avian anatomy. Seven diagrams were drawn showing the location of the muscles as they occur in layers and the drawings were supplemented by a description of each muscle including its location. A table was assembled comparing terminology used in seven published sources on muscle nomenclature. Three of these sources use terminology from Hudson (1937). Abbreviations for 18 muscles were changed to eliminate confusion of names.

Letter To The Editor

For the Academys' Committee on Infectious Diseases, Dr. Katz writes as follows: Dr. Lewak has underlined a troublesome confusion in names which has plagued physicians, patients, and parents. The single letter substitution which barely distinguishes rubella from rubeola is too subtle. The use of a national modifier ("German") which implies that rubella is merely another type of measles, is biologically, historically, and semantically unsound. Would that the confusion were limited to laymen alone! Many an obstetrician has telephoned or written to inquire about a pregnant woman with "measles," when his concern was obviously about rubella.

The Viruses Causing Mosaic of Cowpeas and Azuki Beans, and Their Transmissibility through Seeds

Three kinds of viruses were isolated from mosaic diseased plants of cowpeas (Vigna catjang and V. sesquipedalis). One of them is a seed-borne virus in cowpea plants, which is transmitted by sap and by at least three species of aphids. Its host range is restricted to several genera of Leguminosae, and Chenopodium. Infectivity of the crude sap was lost by heating at 50-60°C for 10 minutes, and by aging at room temperature for 5 to 6 days, and by diluting at 1:104-1:105. The electron microscopy of virus preparations by dip method always revealed a small amount of elongated virus particles of about 750mμ in length. Thus, according to Anderson's classification scheme (1955), the virus in question was considered to be a member of the Group 2 among Vigna and Crotalaria viruses. To avoid the present confusion in virus names of the Group 2, the authors proposed to use a name of cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus (CAMV) (Lovisolo and Conti, 1966) for all members of the Group 2. The remaining two viruses isolated from cowpea plants were cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and subclover mottle virus. The latter is considered to be a virus belonging to broad bean wilt virus group. Neither of these two viruses is transmitted through seeds of cowpea. More than fifty collections of cowpea plants showing mosaic symptoms from commercial fields in Kanto district, were tested for identification of the causal virus by sap inoculations to a set of differential hosts. The results showed that CAMV was found predominant. Viruses causing mosaic of azuki bean (Phaseolus angularis) were also investigated. Azuki bean mosaic virus (AzMV), CMV, and CAMV were isolated from azuki bean plants showing mosaic symptoms. AzMV is a seed-borne virus in azuki bean, Whereas both CMV and CAMV are not transmitted through seeds of azuki bean. Host range of AzMV is restricted to leguminous plants. The virus in the crude sap is inactivated by heating at 55-60°C for 10 minutes, and by aging at room temperature for 2 to 7 days. The dilution end point lies between 1:104 and 1:105. AzMV preparations examined under the electron microscope by dip method always showed a small amount of elongated virus particles of about 750mμ in length. AzMV seems to be closely related to CAMV, because the former virus protects azuki bean plants from infection by the latter virus. Fifty collections of mosaic plants of azuki bean from commercial plantings in Kanto district, and identification of the causal virus involved was undertaken by sap inoculations to a set of differential hosts. The results showed that the percentages of infection by CMV, CAMV, and AzMV were 55, 26, and 32%, respectively. It was also noted that some of azuki bean plants were infected simultaneously with CMV and either of CAMV and AzMV.

Daniel Farrand Henry's Cup Type "Telegraphic" River Current Meter

THIS IS THE STORY Of a meter used for measuring the everchanging velocities in the waters of natural streams and for determining the volume of water (in cubic feet per second) which might be flowing therein; it is not to be confused with ammeters for measuring electrical currents, which are also commonly referred to as current More particularly, this is the story of the cup type telegraphic meter constructed during the winter of 1867-68 by Daniel Farrand Henry of the United States Lake Survey, Detroit, Michigan. To avoid any confusion of names, it should be noted that Daniel Farrand Henry was not closely related (if at all) to Joseph Henry, the electrical genius and the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The two corresponded with each other on several occasions, however, and as will be explained later, Joseph Henry once recommended that D. F. Henry be awarded a medal for the meter the latter exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. A replica of that meter (Figure 1) is in the collection of water meters at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D. C., which has the world's largest collection of such meters. Many other meters had been built and used before Henry built his, but his has the most exciting and controversial history.

The Evolution of the Relief of the Cam Valley

East Anglia and adjoining districts, with their wealth of glacial deposits and monoto ous relief, have stimulated re earch in o p obl ms of drift geology, but the development of relief has been largely neglected. The valley of the river Cam is no exception, for the papers concerned with its drift geology make little or no mention of the problems of relief. The Cam is one of the smaller rivers draining the region surrounding the Fens: it has three branches which, because of confusion of names, will be called the Ashwell, Saffron Walden and Linton branches, after the main settlements found in the valleys. The river system is short: from its farthest source near Elsenham to its junction with the Old West River near Stretham it is little more than 30 miles long. The area drained by this system falls into three natural divisions (Fig. 1). To the south-east is a low Chalk plateau with a variable but usually considerable thickness of boulder clay. The plateau is bounded to the north-west by a gentle and irregular escarpment which, from its indented character and its broad, shallow coombs, appears to be of considerable age and to have suffered little erosion for a very long time. Nowhere does it approach in steepness the characteristic Chalk escarpments of the south of England. The crest of the escarpment is highest in the south-west, where it reaches 550 feet O.D. south of Royston. It falls in elevation north-eastwards to 380-400 feet O.D. near the Saffron Walden valley and retains that elevation as far as Newmarket. Even where it is highest it is not impressive, for an area of lower dissected plateau at about 300 feet O.D. lies in front of it. The general pattern of valleys on the plateau follows the slight dip to the south-east, but the Linton and Saffron Walden streams are exceptional in flowing against the dip. The latter is especially noteworthy, for it rises some 10 miles south of the Chalk escarp? ment and is an obsequent stream of unusual length for Chalk regions. North of the plateau lies the broad strike vale of the Ashwell stream, a valley of unusual size in relation to the stream occupying it. If the zone of terraces on the southern side of the valley is included, it is slightly more than 6 miles wide near its source at Ashwell and retains this surprising width until it merges into the Fens north of Cambridge. The zone of terraces on the southern side of the valley is cut mainly into the Middle Chalk and the Lower Chalk above the Totternhoe Stone, while the lower, more modern valley is cut indifferently across the Chalk Marl and the Gault (Fig. 1). These two rocks are almost equally lacking in resistance to erosion and, from a geomorphological point of view, the important lithological break is not the base of the Chalk but the level of the Totternhoe Stone. North-west of the Ashwell valley a low plateau extends between the Cam and the Ouse valleys. This western plateau is of monotonous relief, reaching 270 feet O.D. in the south centre and sloping gently down usually to 200 feet, but locally in the north to 160 feet O.D., above the break of slope to the adjacent valleys. The plateau is essentially a boulder clay feature, for solid rocks outcrop in very few places on its sur? face, although the Lower Greensand comes to the surface in the south-west near Sandy and the Chalk in the south-east near Barrington. The surface of the solid rocks, which include all those locally represented between the Oxford Clay and the Chalk, is much lower and more irregular than the surface of the drift forming the plateau. The plateau is dissected by the Bourn Brook, which flows eastwards into the Cam and separates the eastern part of the plateau into two main ridges, one extending to Madingley a few miles west of Cambridge and the other to Barrington.

Ocular and dermal melanocytosis.

Pigmented lesions involving ocular structures are always a source of concern until proved benign. We wish to call attention to a striking pigment change, involving the eye and eyelids, which is benign but which simulates malignant disease. Because there exists a confusion of names describing pigmentary abnormalities of the eye and surrounding structures, a new terminology is suggested. These new terms describe the presence of ectopic melanin-forming cells (melanocytes) in unusual sites and number in the skin and eye. The following Tabulation summarizes these proposed changes: Normal pigmentation of human skin is related to the presence of melanin in highly branched cells located at the epidermal-dermal junction. The melanin-forming cells are called melanocytes, and their dendritic processes are intricately branched. The processes weave between the Malpighian cells and give the mistaken impression that Malpighian cells form melanin. In the eye, melanin is normally found in the uveal tract and in

Er pílaslagið pálmi innflutt til Føroya í søguligari tíð? ella er tað upprunaligt her?

This article seeks to answer the questions: what sort of willow was called pálmi (palm) in the Faroes and was it of native growth or imported. In the Middle Ages willows in Scandinavia were called »palms«, for they were used as decorations on Palm Sundays. / . C. Svabo1 (1782) and / . Landt'- (1800) are the first authors to write about the name pálmi, but even then it was already ancient in the Faroes. Svabo and Landt equate it with Salix caprea, though this can hardly be correct, for the plant growing in all the places they mention is Salix phylicifolia. Landt writes that the pálmi was brought to the Faroes from Norway about 1660; Svabo has no remarks o:i this point. Later authors in asserting that the pálmi vas introduced from Norway aremerely following Landt. The reports have it that one, Ole Larvesen, bailiff on Eysturoy, brought these willows from Norway, planting them at Strendur about 1660 and that his sister moved them to Øravík. Naturally the reports give no indication whether Salix caprea or Salix phylicifolia is meant. Svabo and Landt must be responsible for the confusion of names. Closerinvestigation, however, shows that the accounts alleging that the plant was introduced from Norway are contradictory and of little value.
 Finally, a few words about the two »palms«. S. caprea has been introduced in historical times and ia found only on cultivated land. It does not occur in peat. S. phylicifolia is native to the Faroes and is found widely troughout the contry in the following places: Eysturoy: Strendur, Toftavatn, Streymoy: Hvalvík, Tórshavn, Kvívík, Sandoy: Traðarhamar, Suðuroy: Øravík, Kunoy: Heima í Húsi, Vágar: Leitisvatn, Norðtriðingur, Miðvágur, Uttanhús. In addition it occurs in peat at Tórshavn 'm Vágsbotnur,Skálavík (leaves and stems), Hoyvík (stems). It may well be that many twigs hitherto thougt to be from Juniperus are really from Salix. It is most likely that pálmi orginally denoted the indigenous Salix phylicifolia.

A DENGUE-LIKE FEVER OCCURRING IN IOWA DURING THE POLIOMYELITIS EPIDEMIC OF 1943

During the 1943 epidemic of infantile paralysis, a certain number of patients who were admitted to the isolation division of the University Hospitals with a tentative diagnosis of anterior poliomyelitis proved not to have this disorder. Some of these patients presented the signs and symptoms of an acute illness that could not be classified under any of the known infectious diseases. A review of the literature revealed that a similar syndrome had been described under a variety of names. In an attempt to clear up the confusion of names, we will present a series of cases and a critical review of the literature. During the months of July, August and September 1943, 10 patients were admitted to the isolation division who presented a not readily classifiable syndrome. A sudden onset of high fever, headache, backache and pains in the limbs typified the course of this acute and rather shortlived disease.

Confusion of Names

Confusion of Names