Phil McGraw, Ph.D., began his TV program, “Dr. Phil,” yesterday with warnings about polypharmacy, a person taking many medications from different doctors.
McGraw mentioned the death of Heath Ledger, the actor who died recently of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. The medications included painkillers, sleeping pills, and anti-anxiety medications.
Travis Stork, M.D., one of the doctors on McGraw’s panel, said there was no reason Ledger should have been on all six medications that he was taking.
Polypharmacy pill takers lie about what medications they’re on as they make the rounds to different doctors to gather prescriptions for drugs, McGraw said on his program.
He asked the panel what people should do to make sure that they aren’t experiencing unintended interactions from the prescription drugs they’re taking.
Take a list of your medications to your pharmacist, Jim Sears, M.D., suggested. He or she can check your list and advise you if there are any problems. It would be a good idea to also include the names of your supplements, because interactions can occur between prescription drugs and supplements.
Dear Rita R. Robison,
How safe is your pharmacy? It’s a question that most consumers don’t often consider – and the consequences could be deadly. Each year, 7,000 deaths occur due to medication errors.
Luckily, new technology is available that automates the prescription-filling process and virtually eliminates the risk of medication errors. A new national prescription safety study by Parata Systems, a leader in automation solutions for pharmacies, found that an alarming majority of those surveyed say that they use a pharmacy for its speed and convenience, but only 2 percent of consumers choose a pharmacy for their use of automated dispensing equipment that can greatly reduce prescription errors.
Your readers can take an interactive quiz and learn tips about prescription safety by visiting http://www.myprescriptionsafety.org.
Please consider posting this information as a reader service on your Web site. I can be reached at kaitlinc@jackhorner.com or 412.224.6002 if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Kaitlin Cavanaugh
For Parata Systems
Hi Kaitlin,
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Rita