An analysis of government inspection reports from 2011 to 2014 found that at least 165 nursing home residents in the U.S. were hospitalized or died following errors involving the blood thinner Coumadin, according to a report by ProPublica and The Washington Post.
On July 17, CMS issued a memo to state health departments inspecting nursing homes on its behalf about the use of a new tool designed to help determine whether or not the homes are taking adequate steps to prevent and respond to medication errors, according to ProPublica.
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Coumadin and its generic version, warfarin, can be a life saving drug when the correct dose is administered, but studies going back as far as 2007 estimate that each year 34,000 nursing home residents suffer fatal, life-threatening or serious events related to incorrect dosage of the drug.
Read the full report here.