Final answer:
According to the National Patient Safety Goals, anticoagulant therapy and cancer treatment with anticancer drugs are high-risk due to complex dosing requirements. Correct dosing is critical to avoid side effects and ensure efficacy. The alternative, such as Directly observed therapy, may not be practical for all medications.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the National Patient Safety Goals, anticoagulant therapy poses a risk to patients due to its complex dosing. This type of therapy requires careful calculation and monitoring to avoid both therapeutic failure and serious side effects, including bleeding complications. Dosage must be tailored to the individual's needs, often requiring adjustments based on regular blood testing. Moreover, various factors such as age, diet, medications, and patient mass can influence how patients respond to anticoagulant medication, making the dosing process even more complicated.
Another therapy requiring complex dosing is cancer treatment with anticancer drugs. These drugs can have serious side effects and have limited access to tumor sites. Therefore, ensuring optimum therapeutic drug levels without significant toxicity to the patient is a critical challenge in oncology.
Directly observed therapy (DOT) has been suggested as a solution, notably for TB treatment, to ensure adherence and proper dosing. However, the practicality of DOT for all types of medications, including antibiotics such as penicillin, is questionable due to factors such as increased costs and patient inconvenience.