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My patient safety lecture went extremely well last week at the Cleveland Clinic. There were over 350 people in attendance including pharmacists & pharmacy technicians from the Cleveland Clinic and pharmacy technician students from Sanford-Brown College, which sponsored the event. We took a low budget video on my iphone and will be uploading edited clips shortly! The Emily Jerry Foundation is currently planning other talks at the Cleveland Clinic in the near future as well, so watch for announcements on this site.

I am humbled by all the special people that helped make this speech a reality. I’d especially like to convey a special thank you to Sanford Brown College for sponsoring this event, and to the Cleveland Clinic for graciously hosting us.

The following individuals were instrumental in the success and implementation of this worthwhile endeavor:

–Kristen Malacos, Pharmacy Technology Program Director, for Sanford Brown College

–Dr. Morton P. Goldman, System Director, Academic Affairs and International Business Development, Assistant Professor Department of Medicine CCLCM, Cleveland Clinic

–Erin M. Ortiz Blanco, Pharmacy Technician Training Coordinator, Cleveland Clinic

–Dr. Shannon Connor Phillips, Quality Officer, Cleveland Clinic

A sincere Thank You to those listed above and to everyone else involved in the event! May this be the first of many more to come.

Below are some photos of the PR Newswire offices that announced our partnership with CDEX via our press release campaign. It’s such a great feeling to see the progress we are making. The more people who hear our story the more children’s lives that can be saved!

I’ve been working with Dr. Charles Denham who is the Chairman of the Texas Medical Institute of Technology (TMIT) and a Senior Fellow at Harvard for their Advanced Leadership Initiative on a number of patient safety projects. These ongoing projects include things like the recent filming of patient safety documentaries for the Discovery Channel like “Out of the Danger Zone”, various patient safety webinars, etc.

Make sure you watch the incredible documentary created by TMIT titled, “Chasing Zero: Winning the War on HealthCare Harm.” Video embedded below…

Chris Jerry started the Emily Jerry Foundation, raising awareness and helping to create protective measures to prevent the occurrence of medication errors. We have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to have Chris Jerry speak to our students. Not only is her story important for future pharmacy technicians, but anyone with a future in the medical field as well.

Many of you may have heard the story of Emily Jerry. She was killed by a mistake of a pharmacy technician, and her death is the reason there has been a change in legislation of technician certification requirements in Ohio.

In order to accommodate a large amount of students, we are collaborating with the Cleveland Clinic to host this event at the main campus in Bunts auditorium. Our hope is to not only have our students participate, but also members of the community and the Cleveland Clinic System.

My students take a lot of pride in their profession, and they are very excited about this opportunity. I also encourage you to attend his talk. It would be beneficial to everyone to hear his message.

When: June 30th, 2011

Time: 6:30-8:00PM

If you have any questions, please contact Kristy Malacos, Pharmacy Technology Program Director at kmalacos@sbc-cleveland.com or by phone: 440-202-3277.

See the official blog post here.

5.25.11 | Brandon Glenn

The father of the 2-year-old child whose death as a result of a medication error led to “Emily’s Law” is planning joint speaking engagements with the pharmacist who went to jail for that error.

Chris Jerry, who founded the Emily Jerry Foundation after his daughter’s 2006 death, hopes the joint discussions with ex-pharmacist Eric Cropp will help educate health professionals and students about the danger seemingly small, careless medication errors can pose to patients. The story of human tragedy — and forgiveness — could serve as a powerful reminder to health professionals that they hold human lives in their hands throughout the course of each workday.

Read the rest here.

By MedCity News – 5.5.11 | Brandon Glenn

An Ohio father whose 2-year-old daughter’s 2006 death spurred the passage of “Emily’s Law” is preparing to publicly forgive the pharmacist who went to prison for a medical error that led to the death.

Chris Jerry, who has since started the Emily Jerry Foundation to raise awareness of medication errors, said he plans to forgive Eric Cropp in an interview next week for a segment on the Discovery Channel about patient safety.

“The criminalization of medical errors is an enormous setback for the patient-safety movement,” Jerry said.

Read the rest here.

I will be giving a lecture on patient safety to 155 pharmacy students at Ohio Northern in Ada, Ohio this Friday the 13th!  Dr. Michelle Musser is the Professor of Pharmacy Practice at ONU that I’ve been working with. I’ll be relaying my story, hoping to make an impression on these students. I want to let them know they truly do have people’s lives in their hands every day on the job.

Additionally, next week the film crew from the Discovery Channel will be in Cleveland to tape an interview I will be doing for the second part of a “Chasing Zero” segment on patient safety.  I have been working with Dr. Charles Denham from TMIT on this project.  I am Looking forward to publicly forgiving Eric Cropp next week during my interview with The Discovery Channel.  I truly believe that this is what my daughter would want me to do. The criminalization of medical errors, when they occur, is an enormous setback for the patient safety movement in our nation. Read this CNN story describing the negative impact this had on the patient safety movement.