ADVERSE reactions to drugs may be one of the leading causes of death in
Western countries, warn doctors who have studied the problem. They say that
health authorities need to make the issue a higher priority and investigate new
ways to tackle the problem.
The alarm was sounded in April by a paper in the Journal of the American
Medical Association (vol 279, p 1200). This suggested that 0.32 per cent of
people admitted to American hospitals die from adverse drug reactions, including
unexpected interactions between different drugs
(see 鈥淲hat the doctor ordered鈥�) and accidental
overdoses due to errors by hospital staff.
Patients in other countries could also be at risk. No one knows the scale of
the problem in Britain, says Maureen Dalziel, director of public health at the
North Thames branch of the National Health Service Executive. She says that
there could be 70 000 deaths and cases of serious disability in England each
year鈥攑utting adverse drug reactions behind only heart attacks and stroke
as a cause of death.
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With Charles Vincent of University College London and Eric Thomas of the
University of Texas at Houston, Dalziel has planned a pilot study of 2000
patient records in two London hospitals, which could begin as early as next
month. 鈥淲e knew it had to be investigated,鈥� she says. However, the team has yet
to secure the 拢160 000 it needs to carry out the study.
Thomas says that the US government has also been slow to react. 鈥淭he federal
response so far has been limited, and I think that鈥檚 because we鈥檙e only starting
to realise the size of the problem.鈥�
However, the American Medical Association has set up a National Patient
Safety Foundation, which will fund further research. The foundation is now
deciding where to award its first annual batch of three $100 000 grants.