The Health Department reported 5,500 failures in medication dispensing during 2025. Four patients over 70 died and 32 more were close to death.
The Health Department of the Generalitat recorded 5,500 medication errors in Catalonia during 2025, according to the latest prevention bulletin prepared by this body, as reported by THE OBJECTIVE. Most of these failures, 94.46%, did not cause harm to the patient, but in 305 cases (5.54%) there were consequences of varying severity.
Four of those patients died. All were over 70 years old. The deaths occurred due to a delay in urgent thrombolysis treatment due to a lack of the medication, an error in the duration of prescribed anticoagulation, a severe anaphylactic reaction to iodinated contrast in an allergic patient, and the administration of midazolam intravenously instead of subcutaneously.
Another 32 patients (0.58%) were in a near-death situation as a result of an error in the dispensing of their treatment. These data were collected in the bulletin corresponding to 2025.
By care setting, in hospitals, the most common error was dispensing an incorrect dose, concentration, or quantity, or omitting the medication or dose, with 795 cases (21.44%). Administering medication to the wrong patient was the second most frequent error in hospital care, with 450 cases (12.14%).
In Primary Care, the most notable errors were ineffective prescriptions or requests upon hospital discharge (303 cases, 18.96%) and incorrect dose, concentration, or quantity or omission of the medication (168, 10.51%).
In mental health services, the most common error was attending to the wrong patient (32 cases, 36.36%), followed by incorrect dosage (13, 14.77%) and dispensing a different medication than prescribed (9, 10.23%). In emergency medical services, the most common errors were incorrect dosage and wrong patient, with 3 cases each (11.11%).
The majority of reported errors, 65.65% (3,611), occurred in hospitals. This was followed by primary care, with 25.31% (1,392); intermediate care centres, with 7.15% (393); mental health centres, with 1.38% (76); and emergency medical services, with 0.51% (28).
The group that reports the most errors is nursing, with 62.88% (3,134 notifications). Medical and pharmaceutical staff occupy the second and third positions, with 15.67% and 9.87% respectively (781 and 492 cases).
With lower participation are administrative staff (4.45%, 222), nursing auxiliary care technicians (2.05%, 102), geriatrics assistants and senior technicians (1.57%, 78), paediatric staff (1.06%, 53), midwives (0.86%, 43), residents (0.5%) and, lastly, speech therapy and social work (0.02% each).
The bulletin also identifies the most reported active ingredients. Enoxaparin, an injectable anticoagulant, tops the list, followed by acenocoumarol, an oral anticoagulant, and paracetamol.
These data reflect the importance of strengthening reporting and prevention systems at all care levels. The bulletin is prepared with communications from healthcare professionals and allows for the detection of patterns to improve patient safety.
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