​More than 7,000 adverse events involving opioids occurred at 215 hospitals around the country from January 2014 through November 2016, according to analysis from the ECRI Institute PSO Deep Dive™: Opioid Use in Acute Care. (PSO members can access the full report online). An article about the report was published in the October 16, 2017, Philadelphia Inquirer. The analysts identified 12 near-death events and at least two deaths caused by opioids, the article said, and opioids may have been involved in several situations in which the cause of death was not identified. Because incident reports were submitted voluntarily, the data may not represent the true scope of the issue, the article said. "These are the tip of the iceberg," William M. Marella, executive director of ECRI Institute PSO, said in the article. The goal of the report was to identity failure modes related to opioid use in hospitals so that they can be addressed. Issues commonly occurred in relation to prescribing, medication administration, and diversion. Common prescribing errors included prescribing of opioids along with other medications that can affect the central nervous system and duplicate orders. Common administration events included patients being given the wrong type of medication and situations that saw the wrong frequency or dose of a drug, incorrect or missing documentation, administration of opioids without an order, and inadequate patient assessment at administration. Common diversion events included situations in which opioids were left unsecured or removed without documentation, as well as those in which there was a failure to account for disposal of leftover drugs. The article urged patients to inform providers what medications they are taking and to disclose any health problems, especially sleep apnea and liver and kidney issues, before opioids are prescribed.