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Anesthesia awareness is a potentially disturbing adverse effect wherein patients who have been paralyzed with muscle relaxants may awaken. They may be aware of their surroundings but unable to communicate or move. Neurologic monitoring equipment that helps to more closely check the patient's anesthesia stages is now available to avoid the occurrence of anesthesia awareness.
Medication errors are more common among seriously ill patients than with those with minor conditions.
This year, an estimated 1.4 million Americans will have a new or recurrent heart attack.
More than 34,000 trademarked medication names and more than 10,000 generic medication names are in use in the United States.
In 2010, opiate painkllers, such as morphine, OxyContin®, and Vicodin®, were tied to almost 60% of drug overdose deaths.

