More on drug side effects

Something to think about when the docs just keep piling on meds. Of course killing the patient does reduce cost, pain, and other symptoms.

"Adverse Drug Effects, side effects and interactions, account for over 200,000 deaths each year in America alone, according to The Alliance for Aging Research's report to Congress in April 2001. These are from legally prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. Of these, 150,000 deaths are deemed to be preventable."

frank


6 Comments

Problem

by pete - 2009-01-11 02:01:16

That is the big problem drugs can kill as well as curing the patient. Its fair to say that there are few real cures out there although we have to admit that vaccination is a brilliant "preventer" of life threatening illnesses. Antibiotics and steroids gave drugs a good name in the 1950s.however a huge proportion of patients admitted to hospital are only there because of adverse effects from drugs. The doctors rarely admit that mistakes have been made. In my case I was told "THAT WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA" over one heart drug given to me in hospital- a calcium channel blocker which nearly gave me a passport to another world. There is no standard dosage for patients only medical guidlines. That is the dosage should be between such and such and such and such with a possible loading dose at the start of the drug. The doctors then have to wait and see what happens. Often if no reaction is reported the patient is kept on the drug in the hope that it is possibly doing some good. Long term iripairable harm could arrive later. Sadly the drug companies are just really interested in the bottom line. If a drug which has been developed to help one disease is found to be inefective that drugs side effects are fully investigated to see if they might "cure" something else. If all else fails a disease can be "discovered" which the failed drug is indicated at having a positve effect on. I do realise that there are drugs that are really useful to the doctors and patients however ElectricFranks warning about "piling on meds" is wholly justified. A cynical attitude is I beleive a good thing when it comes to medication. Take care. Cheers Peter

medication

by Blueaustralia - 2009-01-11 05:01:40



I now question everything that is intended to pass between my lips. Recently my husband became seriously ill when prescribed a drug he was allergic to. He was given no warning of side effects and it was left to us to research. I thought he was going to die. On the upside he had been taking codeine for ages for pain and we finally realised that he was allergic to opiates.
Thank goodness for a short temper when being handed the rough end of the pineapple.

Cheers.

be a cynic

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-11 09:01:18

I am not surprised at all by those numbers! I had primary responsibility for my grandmother the last few years of her life and keeping track of what she was on, making sure all her doctors knew what the other doctors put her on and why, was a full time job some weeks. She ended up in a dementia wing eventually, barely knew us most days. When we turned her care over to hospice at the end, we took her off all the meds except the ones that made her comfortable- and her mind was crystal clear for almost two weeks before she passed away.

Knocking on wood, I'm not on any prescrips. Every time they try to put me on something, I do my research and come up with a natural solution. So far, so good!

Risk/benefits

by ElectricFrank - 2009-01-13 12:01:44

It isn't an easy one to solve. There is no doubt that there are legitimate times for taking a risk for a beneficial result. The nitro for angina is a good example. The drug is short acting and has an immediate effect which makes it easy to verify it's effectiveness.

Now consider statins which have a long term effect which can only be measured by statistical methods. The side effects some of which can be serious only occur in a few patients. They may show up quickly or may take years to appear.

Now add BP meds, various cardiac meds and what is happening in your body.

In case you missed it from my earlier post go to http://www.pharmasurveyor.com/ .

As an example of the situation try entering the following meds that a typical male may be taking:

Lipitor (for cholesterol)
Diovan HCT (for blood pressure)
Viagra (for fun)
Flomax (for enlarged prostate)
Plavix (anticoagulant)

Now look at the potential side effects and interactions. Wonder why there are so many deaths from meds?

Now enter the meds you are taking. Are there any that you could possibly eliminate that would reduce the risk? At least be aware of the potential serious side effects of them. What you do about it depends on your knowledge and comfort level.

frank

natural solutions

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-14 06:01:05

Patch, when I say natural solutions, I don't necessarily mean herbal remedies. Diet changes and vitamins can fix a lot of problems. Our food is filled with hormones and antibiotics and dyes and other chemicals. While they're filling things with all those chemicals, they're also stripping out a lot of vitamins. Do you realize how little calcium is actually in a glass of milk? When you cut out the junk and fix vitamin deficiences, you can fix a lot of problems that most doctors would just throw a prescription at. Not everything, of course, but I'm always going to try it my way first.

I don't do anything without discussing it with my doctor. My cardio knows that I'm eliminating caffeine and alcohol while taking salmon oil to try to get rid of the svt's he wants to treat with betablockers. My gyn knows I'm keeping artificial hormones in my diet to a minimum rather than taking the birth control pills he wants me on for endometriosis. (been doing that successfully for almost ten years, btw, and he still asks every time he sees me) Both are working, btw, but I'll bet you anything when the next patient comes along with the same symptoms, they'll both write those prescriptions without mentioning to the patient try diet modifications first.

And as for herbal remedies, the chinese have been using them for thousands of years. They can't be all wrong! People used all sorts of herbal remedies before the modern drug industry got started. If they're bought from a reputable source and done under a doctor's supervision, I don't see anything wrong with trying it first.

it's all good :o)

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-14 10:01:05

no problems on my end :o)

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