"Fatal Rx Drug Errors Soar"--That's the headline in the latest online edition of the AARP Bulletin Today, a publication that I started reading since one of its editors interviewed me for a story that is coming out soon.
It's also a pub that I need to be reading since I am, at 53, in AARP's demographic. I've decided not to fight it--the organization cares about issues that I care about, such as health insurance, and the ONLY person who gave me accurate answers to my questions about Medicare and Tykerb (including the people I talked to during calls directly to Medicare) was a woman who works for the AARP. She's their Medicare specialist and knows her way around Medicare Part D like nobody's business.
Anyway, back to the story about drug errors:
According to research done at the Unversity of California at San Diego, accidental deaths caused by people improperly taking meds rose by more than 700 percent between 1983 and 2004.
Ouch. A relative of mine recently was rushed to the emergency room when she took too much of one of her meds, so this hits close to home.
It also hits close to home because of all the powerful drugs I take to combat my cancer.
Read the story: Fatal Drug Errors
Read more about preventing medical mistakes:
Medical Mistakes--They Will Happen
@ Jeanne Sather 2008.
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