The Dangers of Polypharmacy
"Polypharmacy", otherwise known as a 'poisonous cocktail'
of many drugs that can interact in
dangerous ways and cause side effects
that can be far worse than the diseases
they are treating. Elderly people
are especially vulnerable to polypharmacy because they often
have several medical problems for
which they see different doctors,
each prescribing drugs, often without knowing what else the patient
is taking. Polypharmacy is responsible for up to 28% of hospital
admissions and is the fifth leading cause of death in the United
States. Source: St.
Louis Post Dispatch, September 4,
2007, "Taking Poisonous Cocktail
Can be Perilous".
Today there are 38,000,000 seniors in the US; by 2030, that number
will rise to 75 million. On average, individuals 65 to 69
take nearly 14 prescriptions a year; individuals aged 80 to 84
take an average of 18 prescriptions per year. Source: Senior
Care Pharmacy Facts from the American
Society of Consultant Pharmacists.
The number of serious drug side effects
and deaths reported to the U.S. food
and Drug Administration has more than doubled over an eight year
period. From 1998 to 2005,
there were 467,908 serious adverse drug events reported. A
serious adverse drug event means an event that resulted in death,
birth defect, disability, hospitalization, was life-threatening or
required medical intervention to prevent harm. The number of
fatal adverse drug events has more then tripled from 1998 to 2006. Source:
Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2007 "Study Shows Steep Rise
in Adverse Drug Reactions".