Yasmina Kattou, edited by Solène Leroux
modified to
07:07, June 01, 2022
In 2007, 144,000 people were hospitalized for a medication accident, compared to 212,000 in 2018. This is an increase of 136%. Scientists have not managed to establish the clear and precise causes of this increase, but have discovered that 34,000 hospitalizations could have been avoided.
In ten years, the number of hospitalizations related to adverse drug reactions have more than doubled. 144,000 people were hospitalized for a medication accident in 2007, this figure rose to 212,000 in 2018, an increase of 136%. This is revealed by a study conducted by the regional pharmacovigilance center of Limoges. The most surprising thing is that scientists have not succeeded in establishing the clear and precise causes of this increase.
34,000 hospitalizations could have been avoided
First, the researchers evoked the increase in the consumption of drugs to explain this phenomenon. But the French have decreased their use. Scientists then thought about new drugs that came onto the market. However, these do not cause more side effects.
On the other hand, what the study showed was that of 212,000 drug-related hospitalizations, 34,000 could have been avoided. “Everyone is responsible,” says Marie-Laure Laroche, head of the study at the Limoges pharmacovigilance center.
Avoid hospitalizations by popularizing the leaflets
“It starts from the prescriber with the pharmacist, but also the patient who can take several anti-hypertensors. The risk is to have the blood pressure drop too much. If it happens in an elderly person, they will fall. If she falls, she will end up in the hospital and possibly risk a fracture.” According to her, “if we follow the instructions, we can avoid an undesirable effect”.
According to the scientist, we could further reduce hospitalizations linked to adverse drug reactions by making the leaflets more popular, which can sometimes be too technical and too long for patients to read.