It is important to note that these estimates are
for deaths only and do not include negative effects associated with
disability or discomfort. These deaths total 225,000 per year, making
drugs, doctor errors and complications arising from medical treatment
the third leading cause of death in the United States. Only heart
disease and cancer top this cause of death.
Study upon study clearly shown the danger in prescription drug
medication and surgery. Below are a sampling;
_ An estimated 2,216,000 hospitalized patients had serious
adverse drug reactions and 106,000 had fatal adverse drug reactions. (JAMA,
April 1998)
_ Almost 1 out of 5 patients who take prescription drugs experience a
treatment-related complication. About 50% of those who experienced an
adverse reaction sought medical attention as a consequence.
(Journal of General Internal Medicine, March 2000)
_ Approximately 2 million outpatients visits occurred because of
medication side effects. The drugs most frequently involved were
hormones and synthetic substitutes (13%), followed by antibiotics
(11.5%) and cardiovascular drugs (9%). (Journal of the American
Pharmacists Association May-June1999)
_ The results a two large studies reveal that hospital medical errors
kill an estimated 44,000 (based on one study) or 98,000 (based on the
second study) Americans each year. These estimates do not include
errors that may arise in settings other than the hospital such as
outpatient clinics, retail pharmacies, nursing homes, home care, and
day-surgery clinics. (Institute of Medicine, Nov. 1999)
_ Based on the more conservative figure of 44,000 deaths per year,
hospital medical errors kill more people than breast cancer, AIDS or
traffic accidents.
_ The incidence of serious adverse drug reaction was 6.7 per 100
patients and that of fatal adverse drug reaction was 0.32 per 100
patients. Extrapolating this data to the entire U.S. population
revealed that in 1994 alone, over 2.2 million patients experienced a
serious adverse drug reaction and 106,000 died from this complication.
These are conservative estimates, since they don't take in
consideration possible adverse drug reaction errors in drug
administration, patient non-compliance, overdose, drug abuse,
therapeutic failures and injuries and deaths occurring in nursing home
patients. (JAMA, April 1998)
_ Of over 5,000 medication orders reviewed, medication related
problems were identified in every 15 medication exposures. Dosing
problems (33.5 percent), adverse drug reactions (20.7 percent), and an
indication that was not currently being treated (13.5 percent) were
the most common medication related problems. (Nurs Times, Dec. 2003)
_ Each year, approximately 107,000 individuals are hospitalized for
gastrointestinal complications derived from nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). These figures do not include
gastrointestinal complications occurring in patients taking
over-the-counter NSAIDs. (American Journal of Medicine July 1998)
_ At least 16,500 arthritis patients die as a consequence of NSAID
use. (New England Journal of Medicine July 1999)
_ The Harvard Medical Practice Study analyzed randomly selected
medical records. Of the 30,195 in-hospital records studies, 1,117
patients sustained injuries due to their medical treatment. Of those,
48 percent were due to surgical procedures, 19 percent to drug-related
complications, 14 percent to wound infections, and 13 percent due to
technical complications. (New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 1991)
Discomfort and health symptoms are warnings to a problem. Prescription
drugs do not cure the problem but mask or suppress the symptoms. If
you cure the cause, there is no need to treat the symptom with
prescription drug medication.
