An Ounce of Prevention
Especially hard to keep track of are patients' medications. This ignorance is dangerous because the wrong mixture of drugs can lead to violent reactions in patients.
"There are certain things we know we can use to prevent this misuse," Rosenthal said. One of these preventive measures is a computer database containing patients' medication information.
UHS also aims to reduce the potential for errors by permanently assigning patients to one team of physicians.
However, Rosenthal said, students and other members of the Harvard community should still take extra precautions.
"When you pick up medicine at the pharmacy, ask questions," Rosenthal recommended, urging a good understanding of the effects of the medication.