Drug Deaths Triple

Recently I had a disturbing conversation with a patient from a company which supplies drug data to many hospitals and doctors to help them minimise Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). "One in twenty deaths is associated with ADRs." she told me. I was amazed. I knew there had been a report in the British Medical Journal in 2004 that had concluded that 'the true rate of death in Britain from adverse drug reactions, excluding potential overdoses, may therefore be greater than 10,000 per year.'(the author was Pirmohamed).

But this woman was suggesting the true figure was far more; three times more in fact. You can do the math. Approximately 600,000 people die every year, so one in twenty gives you 30,000 annual deaths. Compare that with the 3,200 a year killed by road accidents.

However it's the kind of figure that supporters of prescription drugs would dismiss as anecdotal. But today her figures receive dramatic confirmation. A large study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that in the States the number of reported fatal ADRS from prescriptions drugs has gone up by about three times.

"From 1998 through 2005," it concludes "reported serious adverse drug events in the US increased 2.6-fold from 34,966 to 89,842, and fatal adverse drug events increased 2.7-fold from 5,519 to 15,107." At first sight that doesn't look like very many. But remember that the number of reported ADRs are a tiny fraction of actual ADRs. In fact back in 1994, the number of fatal ADRs in America was estimated to be over 100,000 per year (Lazarou, JAMA, 1998). If that figure were a true reflection, and the situation has got three times worse, then one would be talking in excess of a quarter of a million people!

One reason for the increase could be that people are taking three times as many drugs. But the study covered that. "Reported serious events," wrote the authors "increased 4 times faster than the total number of outpatient prescriptions during the period." It is, of course possible to dream up other reasons for the huge increase but the authors drew the obvious conclusion: "These results highlight the importance of this public health problem and illustrate the need for improved systems to manage the risks of prescription drugs."

What amazes me most is the complacency we, as a society, have about this. Where is the Citizens Action Group, the Government Commissioned investigation or independent department charged with urgently reducing this tragic state of affairs with independent funding?

Until that happens it obvious that anyone on drugs is going to have to be much more aware of balancing the harm against the benefit. The next time you have an ache or pain think twice about taking drugs, pick up the phone and call us for natural healthy chiropractic care.