Quote:
Originally Posted by pstinard  The paper gives a range of values from 1% to 20%, depending on the study and the hospital. The problem is worse among the elderly. The 5 to 10% is the average for all admissions at all hospitals. |
Yes, I did get that part...about the elderly and also the average. The elderly have always been an issue. So many different meds and sometimes doctors. In an ideal world they would have one doctor and one pharmacy .. but even then you would find some drug to drug issues.
I just think that to make a statement like Gemy did is frightening to people who may already be afraid of meds. I don't know that she meant that but it did come off that way to me... that it could lead to people being afraid. There are so many factors that come into play and it is not like all of these are life threatening side effects and/or anaphylactic reactions. To say there should be a public outcry is a bit of a stretch in my way of thinking. We should ALL be informed consumers and certainly be aware of what we are taking in terms of meds. The bottom line though is that many of these numbers are from people who may have used insulin and not eaten or who took warfarin and didn't recognize bleeding symptoms OR who failed to get their blood work done .. doctors cannot monitor if people are non compliant. There is abuse of rx drugs on the streets, but they say the number is not huge. It is just that there are, as I said, too many variables imo to lump them together as something out of control and scary.