Unintentional Therapeutic Errors Involving Insulin in the Ambulatory Setting Reported to Poison Centers

BackgroundAdverse drug events in the ambulatory care setting are not uncommon and can cause significant morbidity. Little research has been published on the management of adverse drug events involving insulin in the outpatient setting.ObjectiveTo analyze data on patients with unintentional therapeutic errors involving insulin managed by 9 regional poison control centers.MethodsA retrospective search was performed for all records involving insulin at 9 poison centers, covering the population of 4 states for the years 2000–2009. A subgroup of the study population was selected with a reason for exposure of “unintentional–therapeutic error.”Results:There were 3819 insulin exposures reported, with an increase in the annual incidence of insulin exposures of 279% (from 170 to 645 patients/year) and a mean annual increase of 16%. Of the insulin exposures, 2584 were unintentional therapeutic errors (68%). The percentage of all insulin exposures that were unintentional therapeutic errors increased progressively, fr...