Look-alike threats to unit dose safety.

Several similar-appearing (look-alike) unit dose products are shown, including ampuls, syringes, and oral drugs. These look-alikes could potentially lead to drug administration errors when one product is mistaken for another. This problem is briefly discussed and some suggestions for helping reduce the likelihood of errors are made. These include calling on manufacturers to use more varied types of packaging and to refrain from producing several different drugs or dosages in similar packaging. The examples shown illustrate the risks of mistaking different look-alike products for one another and the importance of carefully reading package labels.