California gov. signs error bill

California Governor Grey Davis has signed into law a bill that will require California hospitals to submit a "formal" plan for reducing medication-related errors in their facilities to the state by Jan. 1, 2002. Once the plan is approved by the state, the facility must implement it on or before Jan. 1, 2005.

The new law applies to general acute care hospitals, special hospitals and surgical clinics.

For the purposes of the law, a "medication-related error" means "any preventable medication-related event that adversely affects a patient in a facility … and that is related to professional practice, or healthcare products, procedures, and systems, including, but not limited to, prescribing, prescription order communications, product labeling, packaging and nomenclature, compounding, dispensing, distribution, administration, education, monitoring, and use." PR