Boston drug injury alert-Nearly 600,000 kids injured annually

2009-10-02 02:20:16 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Drug Related Injuries, Justice News Flash)

Children’s Hospital Boston alerted 585,922 children’s medical visits a year in the U.S. are for treatment of adverse drug events (ADEs) or drug injuries

Massachusetts drug injury lawyer-Children’s Hospital Boston alerts outpatient data asserts almost 600,000 kids suffer drug injuries annually.

Boston, MA–Recent data reviewed by researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston revealed the overwhelming incidence of drug related injuries in children up to the age of 18 every year across in the United States. After analyzing National Center for Health Statistics outpatient data form 1995 to 2005, which includes emergency room visits, medical researchers with the prestigious Boston medical center revealed the alarming high incidence of complications in pediatric care involving medications. The study reports 585,922 ambulatory care center and emergency room visits a year in the United States are children presenting with adverse drug events (ADEs), as reported by HealthDay News.

An adverse drug event (ADE) is defined by Wikipedia as, “…harm associated with the use of given medications at a normal dose.” This is different from a side effect. An ADE means actual injury or harm was suffered by the patient taking the prescribed medication as directed by the physician, pharmacist, manufacturer, and/or drug package directions. Twenty-two percent of the visits were at emergency departments, and forty-three percent of injured patients were 4 years of age or younger. With 52% of the visits to outpatient clinics and emergency departments children presented with symptoms indicating allergic reaction to the medication prescribed. The majority of ADEs were associated with antibiotic use like penicillins, which involved 27.5 percent of all visits and affected at least 40 percent of children under the age of 4. Education of health care professionals, parents, schools, and the patient is key to reducing the severity of injuries from ADEs. Drug company package inserts and pharmaceutical sales representatives for the drug manufacturer cannot continue to be considered the only reliable source for education and information for doctors and nurses when prescribing and teaching. Pediatric health experts assert real world experience and use of medications needs to be accessible and readily available to adequately educate everyone involved in a child’s care.

Massachusetts drug injury lawyer education by legal news reporter Heather L. Ryan.