Deaths From Drug Errors

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

In case you thought it just happens in the United States, news reports today from London suggest that deaths from drug errors and side effects are sharply on the rise in the UK.

According to a report in today’s Yahoo News, the number of Britons dying in hospitals from medication prescribing errors and the adverse effects (side effects) from medications sharply rose from 200 in 1990 to 1,100 in the year 2000.

Deaths, and side effects are costing the National Health Service system in the UK millions of dollars each year not to mention the fact that people are dying as a result of drug use. According to the report, complications arising from medication are the most common cause of adverse events in hospital patients. Basically, what that says is that side effects from drugs are the most common cause of complications. Or in other words, the drugs people take to make them well are making them sicker.

It is estimated, according to the report, that hospitals in the UK spend $1.5 billion a year on prescription drugs. It was also mentioned that 7000 individual drug doses are administered each day in a typical hospital in that country. That’s a lot of drugs, and a lot of side effects many could do without.

Yahoo News: Deaths From Drug Errors, Side Effects Soar in UK