School of Pharmacy


Incident Log
Incident Log


Date of incident: 06/02/2019

Error type: dispensing error

Patient age: 11

Patient sex: male

Brief summary of incident: Tetracycline is not a suitable antibiotic to be given to children under 12 and is therefore contraindicated in this group. The Prescribed antibiotic should have been changed to a suitable alternative such as Amoxicillin.

Name of medication: Tetracycline 250mg;

Level of harm that could have occurred: 4

The reason you think the potential harm is at the level you have chosen:
Deposition of tetracycline in growing bones and teeth by binding to calcium causing staining and potentially dental hypoplasia

Possible cause/contributory factors: Due to the presence of calcium in a child’s teeth and bones as the grow.

Reasons why incident occurred and actions required to prevent reoccurence:
Double check an antibiotic is suitable for the age group indicated on the prescription.

Best description of this error/near miss:
wrong product
contra-indication



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