1. BIO 312/313 Spelling Policy  Spelling errors include:  Spelling errors  Improper use of singular/plural  Confusing/omitting right/left & artery/vein/nerve where warranted  Illegible handwriting

2.  Singular/Plural, R/L & A/V/N:  ½ point deducted  Spelling Errors:  Letter or two – ½ point deducted  Several letters, unrecognizable, phonetically incorrect or misspelling results in new structure/meaning – 1 point deducted  Illegible handwriting:  1 point deducted

3. Why do we care about accuracy? A lawyer writes: “The plaintiff should recieve $10,000 in damages.” Has anyone been physically harmed by this spelling error? How about these?

4. A nurse writes on a patient’s chart: “X-ray requested of the ileum.” When he/she means “ilium.” Barium Enema = Unhappy Patient

5. A doctor writes “qid” on a prescription for Coumadin - instead of “qd.” The patient takes the medication 4 times a day rather than once a day...... and dies of gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

6. 2006: 3 infants die after 10,000 u/ml Heparin dose (10 u/ml prescribed) 2007: 14 infants receive Heparin overdose 2008: more deaths result from the same mistake...

7. Results in new product labeling... Old LabelNew Label

8. A pharmacist fills a prescription for Dioval with Diovan. DIOVAN is a high blood pressure medication. DIOVAL is an estradiol hormone.

9. Don’t all doctors have messy handwriting? Who cares??

10. This prescription for Isordil was read by the pharmacist as Plendil.

11. While these medications treat the same condition, the dosages are vastly different. The patient died of a heart attack. His family cared.