If no other syringes are available, doctors are urged to carefully monitor patients when the Chinese-made syringes are used, which may leak, break or cause other life-threatening complications
Nearly 4,000 consumer complaints have been received concerning faulty infusion pumps, which could expose users to serious and potentially life-threatening injury.
Warning letters over plastic syringe problems were sent to both Chinese manufacturers and U.S. distributors, due to quality control and safety issues.
The FDA has declared a February product correction as a Class I Monoject syringe recall, following numerous reports of problems with the new syringes' dimensions.
The FDA first warned of problems with Cardinal Health Monoject syringes failing to fit drug pumps in November 2023.
Problems with the plastic syringes from China may result in the delivery of incorrect medication dosages, the agency warns.
The U.S. alone accounts for 11% of the global cost of operating room medication errors, according to data from the World Health Organization.
Many of the problems are due to understaffing and a lack of prescription error reporting requirements, the report found.
Despite the improvements, researchers say hospitals still have much to do to prevent unexpected medical problems and improve patient safety.
Criminalizing a medical error led to the conviction of a nurse, which could lead to hesitation to report medication mistakes, medical safety experts warn.
