Center to help prevent costly medication errors

The Medical University of South Carolina and USC are collaborating on a new $2 million Center of Economic Excellence to help reduce the injuries and costs resulting from medication errors.

The CoEE in Medication Safety and Efficacy will work to increase drug safety and effectiveness by tracking errors and incidents in prescription and nonprescription drugs, according to center director Rick Schnellmann.

The center will provide data to hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and state and federal health agencies, and the dissemination could lead to fewer drug injuries and improved drug effectiveness in South Carolina.

Columbia-based Health Sciences South Carolina, a statewide collaborative that works to improve the health and economic well-being of the state, is providing matching financial support for the center.

“At USC, we are excited to work with MUSC and HSSC to create a nationally prominent research center,” said Dr. Rose Booze, USC’s interim vice president for research. “We believe that the innovative work at this center can make a difference in the lives of South Carolinians by dramatically reducing the number of medication errors.”

An expert in pharmacoepidemiology and economics will be recruited to lead the CoEE.

Nationwide, the cost of drug-related death and disease from medication errors and incidents could be as high as $177 billion, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The endowed chairs program is a state-funded effort to grow knowledge-based jobs by creating spin-off companies from university research. The program also attracts world-class researchers to serve as endowed chairs who can attract private funding, scientists and students to state universities.