People with inflammatory diseases are often treated with methotrexate. Unlike for cancer, for this indication it is only used once a week, which is a rather unusual dosage frequency. There have been repeated instances of methotrexate being taken daily instead of weekly by mistake. An overdose of this nature can have serious health consequences or even be fatal. The Swiss Patient Safety Foundation, Swissmedic and ToxInfoSuisse have long been pointing out this danger [1-3], which is why a Quick Alert [4] has already been published.

Specific measures can prevent accidental overdoses. For example, warning labels on the tablet packaging that draw attention to the correct dosage. Technological barriers also help at the prescription stage. Adjusting package sizes can also be an important preventive measure. However, it is not yet known to what extent such measures have already been applied in the Swiss healthcare system and how many patients might be impacted by them.