Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Drug complaints reach record high FDA blames 14% jump on increased prescription use USA Today story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Drug side effects and other related health problems reported to the Food and Drug Administration reached an all-time high in 2004, a government estimate shows. The federal agency received roughly 422,500 adverse-event reports from pharmaceutical companies, health professionals and patients, up nearly 14% from the 370,887 reports filed in 2003. A final 2004 total is expected later this year, but FDA officials don't expect it to vary significantly from the estimate. The bulk of the reports comes from drug manufacturers, which the FDA requires to file details of all known adverse events involving their products. Doctors, nurses and patients also file, but their reports are voluntary. As a result, the annual totals are believed to cover only a percentage of the actual number of serious drug reactions and problems."