4TH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN U.S. PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
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THE PALM BEACH POST WEDNESDAY APRIL 15, 1998 Study confirms how dangerous prescription
drugs are: Drugs that cause worst reactions - Heart medications. blood thinners, and chemotherapeutic agents for cancer. Most common cause of death- liver or kidney failure, heart rhythm problems, bone marrow destruction. More than 2 million Americans become seriously ill every year because of toxic reactions to correctly prescribed medicines taken properly, and 106.000 die from those reactions, a new study concludes. That surprisingly high number makes drug side effects at least the sixth, and perhaps even the fourth, most common cause of death in this country. The analysis, the largest and most complete of its kind, suggests that one in 15 hospital patients in the United States can expect a serious reaction to prescription or over-the-counter medicine. and about 5 percent of these will die from it. If the findings are accurate, then the number of people dying each year from drug side effects may be exceeded only by the numbers of people dying from heart disease cancer and stroke. and may be greater than the number dying from lung disease, pneumonia or diabetes. Experts said the study, which appears in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is stronger than previous ones because it looks only at cases in which drugs were taken correctly. Previous hints of similarly high side effect rates had been attributed in large part to people getting the wrong medicines or taking them in the wrong doses. Only one quarter of the reactions were due to patients being allergic to the drug in question. In theory, those reactions could be avoided by more carefully asking patients about known allergies. The rest of the side effects were classified as essentially inevitable, bound to affect a certain percentage of the population for unknown reasons. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, drug regulators and the researchers themselves warned against overreacting to the numbers, noting that the study made no effort to measure the benefits of the same medicines-an equally important part of the cost-benefit calculation that determines the usefulness of a drug. "We're not saying, "Stop taking the drugs,"' said Bruce H. Pomeranz, the University of Toronto neurophysiologist who initiated the study. For example, blood thinners may cause fatal bleeding in some, but also save countless lives by preventing heart attacks. Pomeranz called for additional research to determine which drugs are most problematic and which patients are most at risk- information that the current analysis did not try to gather. Meanwhile, he said, hospitals should set up improved systems for tracking adverse reactions as they occur. They should also set up systems for reporting the reactions to federal regulators so medicine labels can be updated and physicians and consumers can be better informed about the relative risks and benefits of their medicines. Drug Administration. said the agency in recent years has implemented new systems for preventing, identifying and keeping track of adverse drug reactions. A nationwide electronic net-work now allows doctors to report adverse reactions easily over computer lines. And a growing number of pharmacies are using an FDA-supported system that automatically prints out side-effect warnings and other information for consumers when they pick up their medications. The important message is not to be afraid of your medication but to be respectful of the possibility of side effects," Friedman said. "More people are using medications today than ever before, and for more serious and extreme conditions than ever before. There are real benefits these patients achieve with these medications, but every one has a side effect." The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, a Washington-based trade association, released a brief statement this week urging consumers not to take the findings "out of context." Alan Holmer the group's president said in an interview that side effects are inevitable given the increased potency and effectiveness of modern drugs. "Drugs are powerful substances and affect different people differently," he said "They cannot be made completely safe for all patients in all circumstances." According to Pomeranz, however. who conducted the study with Toronto colleagues Jason Lazarou and Paul Corey, the problem is bigger than had been recognized before and is deserving of more serious attention than has been accorded. "Nobody really knew what was going on with this problem, how serious it is, until now," Pomeranz said. "This is an American tragedy. The "medical consortium"-which consists of the Drug companies, the insurance companies and hospitals, and the AMA, spend billions of dollars to control medical treatment in the United States through lobbying, etc., and they cannot provide better treatment than this?! The insurance companies and HMO's will pay for harmful prescription drugs, but will not pay for non-toxic natural food supplements which improve folks quality of life. Why don't we demand "Pro-choice" when it comes to health care, and demand that our health providers give us that choice?. It is our tax dollars that are supporting this ridiculous health treatment that makes 2,000,000 folks sick and kills 106,000 folks annually!! This is a tragedy and a disgrace. I was part of that system for 25 years, and I am embarrassed to say I prostituted myself for that long. American doctors make money by keeping folks sick. Repeat visits to the office and hospitals for checkups and blood tests keep feeding this behemoth. Lexus payments are due, and we must "keep up with the Jones' ". I would like to see a system where a doctor is given a $500 bonus for curing someone. Wouldn't that be different! Most European physicians are salaried, and are not motivated to keep folks sick, and to keep recycling them through clinics and hospitals where they get more toxic drugs. Doctors approve of natural supplements in most parts of the world. Keep educating yourself regarding this very serious problem. Most of us would choose natural supplements to treat serious health challenges if our insurance provider would pay for them. If we could make this one small change in our health care plan, "Pro-choice", we will shake-up the "medical cartel", and this American tragedy will start healing".....Dr. John F. Macus.
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