STUDY: DRUG REACTIONS COMMON

Side effects from medications are the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.

CHICAGO - Bad reactions to prescription and over-the-counter medicines kill
more than 100,000 Americans and seriously injure 2.1 million every year-far
more than most people realize,researchers say.

Such reactions, which do not include prescribing errors or drug abuse, rank
at least sixth among U.S. causes of death - behind heart disease, cancer,
lung disease, strokes and accidents, says a report based on an analysis of
existing studies.

"We're not saying, 'Don't take drugs.' They have wonderful benefits," said
Dr. Bruce H. Pomeranz, principal investigator and a neuroscience professor
at the University of Toronto.

"But what we're arguing is that there should be increased awareness also of
side effects.'

The harm may range from an allergic reaction to an antibiotic to stomach
bleeding from frequent doses of aspirin, Pomeranz said. The study, by
Pomeranz and two colleagues at his school, Jason Lazarou and Paul N. Corey,
did not explore which medications or illnesses were involved.

The authors analyzed 39 studies of hospital patients from 1966 to 1996.
Serious drug reactions affected 6.7 percent of patients overall and fatal
drug reactions 0.32 percent, the authors reported in today's Journal of the
American Medical Association.

In the study, serious injury was defined as being hospitalized, having to
extend a hospital stay or suffering permanent disability.

The most surprising result was the large number of deaths, the authors
said. They found adverse drug reactions ranked between fourth and sixth
among leading causes of death, depending on whether they used their most
conservative or a more liberal estimate.

In 1994, 76,000 to 137,000 U.S. hospital patients died, and the "ballpark
estimate" is 106,000, Pomeranz said. The low estimate, 76,000 deaths, would
put drug reactions sixth. The ballpark estimate would put them fourth, he
said.

More than two-thirds of the cases involved reactions outside hospitals.