Mistaken drug-taking a danger
Older people are seven times more likely to die from drug prescription mistakes when new drugs are incompatible with drugs already being taken and are contributing to a leading cause of death or injury today in the United States.
A study by Medco Health Solutions Inc., one of the US’s biggest prescription benefit managers, found that errors could occur when a patient was prescribed a drug that was incompatible with medicines already being taken; when a drug could exacerbate another medical condition; or when an incorrect dosage was prescribed.
The study said that “clearly the more medications you take the more potential there is for them interacting with each other. With more physicians providing care to patients, more prescriptions are being written. However, there is clearly a communication breakdown between prescribers.”
The Medco study analysis found that nearly 25% of seniors filled prescriptions at three or more pharmacies. Although pharmacies cross-checked for potentially dangerous interactions when filling a new prescription that was not always enough because pharmacies may not know all of a patient’s medical conditions or be aware of other drugs the patient was taking.
Medco found that patients who saw two doctors received an average of 27 prescriptions a year and were at risk of 10 errors on average. The study discovered that having multiple doctors in the US was not unusual and that nearly 25% of seniors were getting prescriptions from five or more doctors.
