"Central nervous system medications such as opioid painkillers,
antipsychotics for those with mental health issues, sleeping pills, and
antidepressants were the types of drugs most likely to cause problems."
Letters to the Editor: sunletters%40png.canwest.com">sunletters
png.canwest.com
Vancouver Sun
Side effects lead to ER visits
Twelve per cent of patients rushed to VGH have adverse reaction to
medications, study finds
Pamela Fayerman
June 03, 2008
VANCOUVER - Twelve per cent of patients who rush to the emergency room
at Vancouver General Hospital are there because of adverse effects from
medications, according to study findings being published Tuesday in the
Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The 11 international authors of the study said patients with
medication-related complaints are more likely to be admitted to hospital
beds after they've been seen in the ER and occupy those beds far longer
than others, a result the authors described as "striking."
...";We've proven in this study that we've got a problem in the health
care system with patients who experience bad effects from medications
and we have to figure out how to reduce those problems," said lead
investigator Dr. Peter Zed, who was working at VGH during the study but
is now at the Queen Elizabeth Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.
"The solutions will involve better communication among doctors,
pharmacists and patients," Zed said in an interview. "Simply handing out
a pamphlet at the pharmacy that lists all the potential side-effects
doesn't work. Patients don't read them or they don't understand the
information."
Problems stemmed from a variety of issues including patients being
prescribed the wrong drugs, given wrong dosages, allergic reactions,
interactions between drugs and patients not following instructions for
how or when to take their medications.
...Health Minister George Abbott said in an interview the study points
to the need for "continuous improvement when it comes to misuse, overuse
and abuse of drugs."
The province plans to establish a patient safety and quality council to
reduce adverse events, promote transparency and identify best practices
to improve patient care, Abbott said.
Central nervous system medications such as opioid painkillers,
antipsychotics for those with mental health issues, sleeping pills, and
antidepressants were the types of drugs most likely to cause problems.
Entire story can be found here:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=5481d91d-47c1-4b7a
-bb3e-87aa888ad49f
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