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Drug side effects increasing at an alarming rate
15 September 2007
Magazine issue 2621
REPORTS of harmful side effects from drugs are rising at an alarming rate. Serious consequences, such as a reaction that threatened a patient's life or caused a disability, were 2.6 times more frequent in 2005 than in 1998, while deaths increased by 2.7 times, from 5519 in 1998 to 15,107 in 2005, say researchers who examined data collected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By some estimates, UK figures are even worse (see "Why we must listen to patients").
The results are worrying, but the range of possible explanations makes it hard to pinpoint a cause. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent getting a drug to market, the system for monitoring drug safety after approval is far from watertight.
The FDA relies on reports from doctors and patients, but when several drugs are being taken at once it is often ...
The complete article is 444 words long.
To continue reading this article, subscribe to New Scientist. Get 4 issues of New Scientist magazine and instant access to all online content for only £2.95
Drug side effects increasing at an alarming rate
15 September 2007
Magazine issue 2621
REPORTS of harmful side effects from drugs are rising at an alarming rate. Serious consequences, such as a reaction that threatened a patient's life or caused a disability, were 2.6 times more frequent in 2005 than in 1998, while deaths increased by 2.7 times, from 5519 in 1998 to 15,107 in 2005, say researchers who examined data collected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By some estimates, UK figures are even worse (see "Why we must listen to patients").
The results are worrying, but the range of possible explanations makes it hard to pinpoint a cause. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent getting a drug to market, the system for monitoring drug safety after approval is far from watertight.
The FDA relies on reports from doctors and patients, but when several drugs are being taken at once it is often ...
The complete article is 444 words long.
To continue reading this article, subscribe to New Scientist. Get 4 issues of New Scientist magazine and instant access to all online content for only £2.95
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