Home Medication Use Sends 700,000 to ER Annually
I saw an article on Planet Chiropractic about people medicating themselves at home and how many of them were reportedly ending up in the hospital as a result.
From the article (posted here with permission from planetc1)…
According to a study published in the October 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, as many as 700,000 Americans end up in emergency rooms each year as a result of adverse reactions (side effects) to drugs they’ve taken.
Whether we like it or not, medication use in America is common, and many “self medicate.” According to information in the AMA article, a 2004 study found that more than 80% of US residents reported using a prescription medication, over-the-counter (OTC) drug or dietary supplement in the previous week. The same article found 30% saying they had used five or more drugs in the previous week.
Measuring the rates of side effects for self medicating or prescribed drug use has been difficult since most do not report side effects or adverse events to doctors.
The study was done over 2 years and researchers found that about 2.5% of all emergency room visits and about 7% of emergency room visits leading to hospitalization were due to adverse drug events, or side effects from taking drugs.
You can access the complete article here: Medication Use at Home
Not every American loves taking drugs. How are those that don’t take any medications different from those that do? Are they healthier? Do we (America) really need to be taking all these medications?
