One In Five Prescriptions Produce Adverse Reaction

The March, 2000 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine reports on a study that found 1 out of every 5 prescriptions written produced at least one drug complication. Sadly, the medical records of only 3% of patients mentioned them having an adverse drug event (ADE), despite the discomfort and anxiety they cause.

Doctors from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and from the University of California at San Francisco surveyed more than 2,000 patients from 11 internal medicine practices in the Boston area, and examined their medical records. The patients were asked if they had experienced "a problem or symptom related to their prescription medications in the past year.''

394 patients (18%) out of 2,248 reported that they had at least one ADE yet only 64 (3%) of the medical records reported any such events. The report noted some other disturbing statistics. 3 out of 4 patients leave their doctor's office with a drug prescription. Of the 64 records that contained reports of drug complications, 13% of those patients were again given a drug that had previously caused them to suffer complications. According to the researchers, these complications were "clearly preventable".

The drugs that caused most of the ADEs were antibiotics, antidepressants and NSAIDS, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin, tylenol, ibuprofen and naproxen.