The pharmacist shortage and medication errors: issues and evidence.

The paper, as part of this special issue in error prevention, reviews and discusses evidence in the literature related to the impact of the pharmacist shortage on medication errors. The paper examines past research regarding the impact of pharmacists on medication errors, as well as a recent unique survey that attempted to directly examine the impact of the shortage on medication errors. The paper finds a collection of suggestive anecdotal evidence indicating the pharmacist shortage is having a negative impact on medication errors. In addition, several suggestions are made for future research regarding the relationship between pharmacists, the health system, and medication errors.