Elderly Being Poisoned by Cocktail of Prescription Drugs at Hospitals

An estimated one in seven hospital patients suffer an adverse reaction to a drug they are prescribed there, with many of those reactions caused by drug combination effects, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust, and published in the journal PLoS One.The researchers observed more than 3,000 patients at 12 hospital wards for a period of six months. They found that taking a larger number of drugs placed patients at a much higher risk of dangerous side effects, and that adverse reactions were most common among the elderly."A significant predictor of adverse drug reactions in hospitals is the number of medications a patient is taking; each additional drug treatment increases the risk of experiencing an adverse drug reaction," said researcher Munir Pirmohamed. "This is one of the reasons why elderly people experience a higher incidence of reactions than young people, as they have more health conditions and generally take more medications."In more than 80 percent of cases, the drug that caused the adverse reaction was first given to the patient inside the hospital. The most common culprits were anticoagulants (blood thinners), analgesics (painkillers) and diuretics.Patients who had adverse reactions ended up spending an average of six hours longer in the hospital than those who did not. Reactions ranged from the relatively mild, such as constipation, to more severe effects such as confusion, drug-resistant infection, kidney damage or internal bleeding. Over the course of the study, 14 patients died in part due to adverse drug reactions, and one was killed directly by such a reaction."There is no easy solution, but we can and have to do better as it is putting a burden on the National Health Service," Pirmohamed said. "Hospitals should look to improve their monitoring of patients and doctors should also consider in what situations patients are given drugs, how long they are put on them and consider if it is always necessary. It is vital that doctors and patients understand the need to regularly review prescriptions and personally tailor treatment to clinical need."

Sources for this story include: http://www.telegraph.co.uk;/ news.bbc.co.uk.

Elderly In Trouble In Hospitals

The charity Age Concern has sounded a warning that elderly people in British health-care facilities are not getting the special attention needed to make sure that they get enough food."Our evidence shows unacceptable inconsistencies across the country," said Patrick South, head of public affairs for the charity. "It's shocking that many older people still find themselves trapped within a 'postcode lottery of commitment' to improve nutritional standards on hospital wards. For older people, missed meals in the hospital can be as big a risk to safety as missing medication."The Age Concern investigation found that 43 percent of the National Health Service (NHS) trusts studied failed to maintain "protected mealtimes," in which all non-critical care is halted to make sure that everyone gets a chance to eat. Investigators found facilities that conducted routine examinations or took patients to the bathroom during meals, causing those patients to go hungry.The investigation also found that 33 percent of the trusts studied had not yet implemented a "red tray system," with meal trays color-coded so that staff can easily see which patients need extra assistance during mealtime.More than 29,000 reports of poor patient nutrition incidents were reported to the British National Patients Safety Agency in 2007, including improper care of patients who had trouble swallowing or were too weak to eat properly, poorly fitted feeding tubes, and deaths due to malnutrition."Tackling malnutrition should be a top priority for all NHS trusts," South said.Alison McCree, national secretary of the Health Estates & Facilities Management Association, said that she was "very disappointed" that the nutritional issues had yet to be addressed in a systemic fashion, and called upon the government to take action."Although it is primarily a nursing responsibility, the situation can only be improved with a multidisciplinary approach," she advised. "Education is also important - the message about malnutrition needs to get out there."

Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk; http://www.hdmagazine.co.uk/.