Wrong medicines, too high or too low doses and side effects due to reaction with other medicines; per year, about 25,000 people (mainly the elderly) end up in hospital unnecessarily due to incorrect use of medication, reports the Patient Federation Netherlands. How do you prevent that?
Healthcare is not getting any safer. On the contrary. Despite all kinds of measures, people still end up in hospital because of the wrong medicines. 49,000 this year, and 39,000 in 2008. An increase of 25% according to Patient Federation Netherlands based on a report prepared for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport by Erasmus MC (Rotterdam), NIVEL, Radboud UMC (Nijmegen) and PHARMO.
Both Minister Klink and Minister Schippers have made an effort to reduce the number of errors by half. Without result, reports Dianda Veldman, director of the Patient Federation. “It is shocking that in all those years, after all those measures and agreements, no improvement can be seen. With all the consequences that entails for people. How many people ultimately die from the consequences is not stated in the report. clarification about.”
Is your medication correct?
Nearly one in three people over the age of 50 who have their medicine package checked shows that there is something wrong with their package, concluded Plus Magazine in April 2013 from a survey of 1,380 people over 50. These patients received the wrong dose, used too many types of drugs, or received too little. Different medicines can also form an unhealthy combination that makes you sick.
15 percent of all respondents have experienced health problems because of an incorrect pill package. Usually these were side effects, but the consequences can also be more serious. One in eight (13 percent) of the people who developed health problems due to incorrect medicines had to visit their GP as a result. And 11 percent even ended up in hospital.
Checks for safe drug use
1) Do I have the right medicines?
You may be eligible for a medication assessment. Ask your doctor about this.
2) Is the dosage correct?
Does the pharmacist know your kidney function? That affects the dosage. The pharmacist does not know the kidney function in 50 to 75% of the patients.
Are you a woman? Women do not always receive the correct dosage with antidepressants, water tablets, aspirin as an anticoagulant, sleeping pills and heavy painkillers.
3) Wrong combinations
You can end up in hospital because of an incorrect pill mix. Notorious combinations are: painkillers & blood thinners, cholesterol lowers & antibiotics and St. John’s wort & various medicines.
More advice
Here’s even more you can do yourself to prevent medication errors:
• Did you buy over-the-counter medicines yourself at the drugstore? Tell your doctor and pharmacist about this. Ask whether the pharmacist adds them to the medication overview.
• Every time you receive a new medicine from the pharmacy, ask for a new printout of the current medication overview.
* Check with all medicines on the list whether you know what you are taking it for, when you have to take it and how long it is still needed.
* Discuss any uncertainties with the pharmacist or general practitioner. Reliable information about medicines can be found at www.apotheek.nl. This website was created by the KNMP, the professional association of pharmacists. Or look it up via the free app ‘Pharmacy’.
• Take this list with you when you go to the hospital. This way, specialists also know what you are using.
• Once a year, discuss with your GP and pharmacist whether the medicines you are taking are all still needed and whether the dose is still correct.
• Have you been taking the same medicines for years? Be sure to discuss the above with your doctor. Sometimes the dose needs to be adjusted over time because drugs act on an older body in a different way. And you may no longer need the drugs. Some people mistakenly use the same repeat prescription for years.
• Do you feel that the medicines you are taking are bothering you? Then make an appointment with your GP or ask for a meeting with the pharmacist.