Nearly Four in 100 Patients at Philadelphia-Area Hospitals Experience Adverse Medication Reaction, Study Finds

The number of patients in the eight-county Philadelphia area who experience adverse reactions to medications has increased by 41% from 1997 to 2005, according to an analysis of hospital billing records by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The review found that 31,639 patients, or nearly four of every 100 hospitalized patients, had experienced an adverse drug reaction. The findings are in line with national averages reported last week by the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality, the Inquirer reports. AHRQ's review of 2004 data found 1.2 million adverse reactions to medication. More than 100,000 of those reactions were the result of errors made by hospital staff, health providers or patients themselves. Under Pennsylvania law, hospitals are required to tell patients and families when a medical error results in serious injury or death, and they must report any medication errors to the state's Patient Safety Authority, whether or not they are serious. Last year, hospitals in the state reported 44,469 medication errors to the authority, with 99% classified as incidents that did not cause long-term harm. However, some question whether all medication errors are being reported and whether errors are classified correctly. Some experts believe that "advances in the strengths of new drugs as well as sicker patients now in hospitals drive up the number of adverse drug events," the Inquirer reports. Jim Conway, a senior vice president at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, said, "The work is going much too slowly toward building a medication system that is safe" (Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/20).