Are Medication Orders in Fictional Medical-themed Television Shows Accurate? A Retrospective, Observational Study

Objective: To determine the degree of accuracy of medication orders in fictional medical-themed television shows.

Design: Retrospective, observational, study

Setting: A review of available US fictional medical-themed television shows identified via an Internet Movie Database search of shows originally airing from September 1989 to May 2014.

Participants: 4,854 medication orders from 33 unique fictional, medical-themed television shows

Primary Outcome Measures: Percentage of accurate medication orders; type of medication order and error, if applicable.

Results: The analysis revealed that 88.1% of medication orders were accurate with an average of 2.06 medication orders per episode. Orders from five shows were 100% accurate. The most common categories of drugs prescribed were antidysrhythmics/vasopressors/ACLS agents (21.6%), anti-infectives (14.9%), and analgesics/antipyretics (12.5%). The medications coincide with the most common medication indication categories seen: trauma, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. The most common reason for inaccuracy was incorrect dose, representing 44.6% of errors; followed by inappropriate indication (43%). Medication orders prescribed in children (<18 years), using generic names, for acute cardiovascular indications, and given intravenous route were significantly more common among inaccurate orders.

Conclusions: The information in verbal medical orders provided, while incomplete, contains accurate information, with final analysis of the medication orders from fictional medical-themed television shows demonstrating overall accuracy. Evaluation was limited however as many verbal orders were incomplete with no dose given or lack of detailed indication.