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Approximately 25% of all reported medication errors result from some kind of name confusion.
It is believed that the Incas used anesthesia. Evidence supports the theory that shamans chewed cocoa leaves and drilled holes into the heads of patients (letting evil spirits escape), spitting into the wounds they made. The mixture of cocaine, saliva, and resin numbed the site enough to allow hours of drilling.
More than 34,000 trademarked medication names and more than 10,000 generic medication names are in use in the United States.
All adverse reactions are commonly charted in red ink in the patient's record and usually are noted on the front of the chart. Failure to follow correct documentation procedures may result in malpractice lawsuits.
In 1844, Charles Goodyear obtained the first patent for a rubber condom.