'Disturbing': 250,000 hospitalised each year due to adverse reactions
The rate has changed little in 30 years despite campaigns to promote the safe use of medicines
31st January 2019
Some 250,000 Australians are hospitalised each year as a result of adverse reactions to medications — a figure that has changed little in 30 years, a new report suggests.
A review of 16 Australian studies estimates that 2.5% of all hospital admissions are caused by adverse reactions to medicines. They also make up about 7% of emergency department admissions.
Study co-author Professor Libby Roughead says it's "particularly disturbing" that the number of Australians hospitalised due to medication adverse events doesn’t seem to have fallen in 30