The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7246 p563
26 April 2003

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Improved access to pharmacists will help reduce ADEs

As much as a third of adverse drug events (ADEs) that occur in primary care are preventable or could be ameliorated, say American researchers. Furthermore, improving access to pharmacists would help reduce ADE frequency.

The researchers surveyed 1,202 patients at four primary care centres to determine the rates, types, severity and preventability of ADEs. Of the 661 patients who responded, 162 experienced a total of 181 ADEs. Of these, 24 events (13 per cent) were serious, 51 (28 per cent) could be ameliorated, and 20 (11 per cent) were preventable.

The researchers say that strategies to improve communication between patients and health care professionals are essential for reducing the incidence of ADEs. They suggest patients should have increased access to pharmacists to discuss side effects.

Increased use of computerised prescribing systems might also help to reduce the frequency of ADEs. "Computerised checks for interactions and allergies could have prevented both serious preventable events in this study," they say (New England Journal of Medicine 2003;348:1556).