Hospital Admissions for Drug Reactions Double

Oct. 31, 2010— -- Hospital admissions for adverse reactions from medications and illegal drugs doubled in between 1997 and 2008, according to a new government report.

The report, released by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that there was a major increase in hospital discharges from effects of both prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as illegal drugs, among adults ages 45 and older.

"This report reveals a disturbing trend, and we need to find out more about why these admissions are increasing," said AHRQ director Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy in a press release.

Hospital admissions for drug-related conditions grew from about 30,000 per year to more than 65,000 per year -- a 117 percent increase -- between 1997 and 2008 for people ages 45 to 64, according to the report.

The increase was largely driven by hospitalizations from conditions related to three types of medications and drug-related conditions: drug-induced delirium; "poisoning" or overdose by codeine and other opiate-based pain medicines; and withdrawal from narcotic or non-narcotic drugs, according to the press release. "Poisoning" by pain medicines can be caused by accidental overdose or failing to recognize the drug's active ingredient and taking too many pills.

"Substance abuse is rising, and drug abuse of all kinds is exploding as a major public health concern for our country," said Pamela S. Hyde, administrator of HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "The challenge for our healthcare practitioners is to see that patients receive medications when there is medical need but also to help prevent the adverse health consequences from drug use."

Given the explosion in the prescribing of narcotics over the past decade, the trend is not at all a surprise, Dr. John Dombrowski, an anesthesiologist at the Washington Pain Center, told MedPage Today.

Dombrowksi, who is a board member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, explained that in the mid-1990s, there was a push for physicians to measure a new vital sign during office visits -- pain. Dombrowski said the increase in asking patients about their daily pain levels had both positive and negative effects.