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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.
Medication errors are more common among seriously ill patients than with those with minor conditions.
For pediatric patients, intravenous fluids are the most commonly cited products involved in medication errors that are reported to the USP.
In 1835 it was discovered that a disease of silkworms known as muscardine could be transferred from one silkworm to another, and was caused by a fungus.
Medication errors are three times higher among children and infants than with adults.