In the News --Medical emergencies caused by prescription drugs

Every year Americans over the age of 65 years experienced almost 100,000 medical emergencies caused by their prescription medications.  People over the age of 80 dealt with almost half (48%) of the drug reaction emergencies. Four drugs caused two-thirds of these adverse drug reactions:  insulin (14%), oral diabetes medicines (11 %), warfarin (Coumadin) 33% and aspirin or clopidogrel (Plavix).

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)  press release notes that 67% of these medical emergencies involved overdoses or the patient taking the prescribed amount but the drug giving a larger than needed action.  The larger than needed action can happen when people age and don’t break down the drugs as efficiently as in the past.  As people age, their kidneys and livers (which filter, metabolize and rid the body of medications) may become impaired.  If that happens, a ‘normal dosage’ becomes too large a dose.  

Also, the four drugs found in this study to cause the most problems (insulin, oral diabetes medicines, warfarin and aspirin/clopidogrel) often need close monitoring and dosage adjustment. The CDC recommends that “doctors and patients should continue to use these medications but remember to work together to safely manage them.”   More information can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2011/p1123_elderly_risk.html?s_cid=2011_p1123_elderly_risk.html