Zur H�ufigkeit und Vermeidbarkeit von t�dlichen unerw�nschten Arzneimittelwirkungen

Abstract

About every second decision of a medical doctor concerns drug therapy. On the basis of a representative Norwegian study, which analyzed fatal drug reactions in stationary patients of internal medicine wards by autopsy and plasma drug concentrations, in Germany 58,000 fatalities are occurring in this patient population. The treating physicians classified only 6% of drug induced fatalities as such. Therefore, the risk of drug therapy is grossly underestimated. In half of the cases medication errors were causative and therefore these could potentially all be avoided. In addition to improved pre- and postgraduate education in clinical pharmacology the use of computer-based expert systems would be a decisive step to optimize drug therapy.

Pharmacogenetics, Adverse Drug Reactions and Public Health

“…Schönhöfer et al [3] assumed that there are about 100,000–120,000 severe cases of ADRs, and 6,000–8,000 ADR-related deaths in Germany per year. Transferring data from a Norwegian study to the German situation, Schnurrer and Frölich came to the conclusion that about 57,000 deaths in inpatients of internal medicine wards resulted from severe ADRs annually[ 4]. These numbers clearly indicate that ADRs are a highly relevant public health problem in Germany and other countries of the European Union.…”

Uncontainable Life : A Biophilosophy of Bioart

“…In order to comprehend how life the number of patients affected by serious or lethal effects after the application of drugs that had been approved as safe in animal tests: 58 000 in Germany alone (Schnurrer and Frölich 2003cited in Gericke 2011). Furthermore, Gericke (2011 continues, "in Germany approximately 2500 new applications for pharmaceutical drug approval are filed each year, of which there is only one real innovation every two years."…”

Typical Medication Errors in Oncology: Analysis and Prevention Strategies

“…Another frequent cause of overdosage is the confusion of total dose and single dose [2,8,19,30]. In principle, the problem affects all cytostatic agents (such as cyclophosphamide in the case of Betsy Lehman).…”

“…Quite recently in April 2003, the FDA proposed a new regulation concerning the use of barcodes in clinics [13]. In many respects, there is still a lack of appropriate efforts and investments in Germany [8,[14][15][16].…”