This is the Borrower of Some Common Sense’s account.
This discussion of the double slit experiment and resonance structures is eye opening. Yes, I know exactly what each one is and how to explain them.
Sparky, overconfidence is the number one cause of mistakes.
Health, I don’t know what your credentials are so I can’t gear my explanation to your specific field. But to answer your questions, every single drug, vitamin and supplement (even ubiquitin) that passes through our hands is checked. Be it simple drugs like Tylenol or Motrin or complicated drugs like vancomycin and phenytoin (the PK on these drugs gets extremely complicated).
You ask why bother checking for simple drugs? But did you know that Zyvox, a wonderful antibiotic, interacts with psych meds? Not many do. Would you consider a drug interaction between high dose Tylenol with valproic acid and carbamazepine (two common mood stabilizer and anti-epileptics)? I would. How about Contrave (weight loss) and Percocet (pain relief)? Okay to take together? There are interactions between even the most common drugs that we are concerned about.
In terms of mistakes, no one is perfect; we have several check points to ensure we get everything right but human error does occur. How many times would you mix up hydroxazine and hydralazine? Clomiphene versus clomipramine? And yes, we are the last line of defense – how often to patients know what drugs they’re taking? Research says that most patients do not know a whole lot about their meds. Take a look. Should they know – absolutely; but do they know – uncertain.
Everyone makes mistakes; the question is how serious and how permanent. Everyone – doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacy – makes mistakes, everyone.