Psychiatric drugs cause 90,000 ER visits annually

[Hum]

Bad reactions to psychiatric drugs result in nearly 90,000 emergency room visits each year by U.S. adults, with anti-anxiety medicines and sedatives among the most common culprits, a study suggests.

A drug used in some popular sleeping pills was among the most commonly involved sedatives, especially in adults aged 65 and older.

Most of the visits were for troublesome side effects or accidental overdoses and almost 1 in 5 resulted in hospitalization.

The results come from an analysis of 2009-2011 medical records from 63 hospitals that participate in a nationally representative government surveillance project. The study was published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry.

Overall, the sedative zolpidem tartrate, contained in Ambien and some other sleeping pills, was involved in almost 12 percent of all ER visits and in 1 out of 5 visits for older adults.

The Food and Drug Administration last year approved label changes for those pills recommending lower doses because of injury risks including car crashes from morning drowsiness. Head injuries and falls in adults using zolpidem-containing drugs were among reasons for ER visits in the new study.

Sanofi, the pharmaceutical company that makes Ambien, includes a warning in its prescribing information that says the drug can cause "impaired alertness and motor coordination." It also says doctors should "caution patients against driving and other activities requiring complete mental alertness the morning after use."

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[satysin]

I have been on Ambien for a long time (over 5 years now) for chronic insomnia. It is a great drug that does the job well. The problem is that it is pretty strong. Even in pretty low doses it will knock you for six if you don't know how to take it safely. With things such as Ambien you only take it once you are IN BED and only when you know you have at least 6 hours before you need to be fully awake/alert. The problem I hear of most often is people try and go to sleep but can't so at 3am they take an Ambien to get some sleep but then their alarm goes off at 7:30 to wake them up and they still have some side effects from Ambien in their system. Also Ambien has some strange side effects which confuse you and cause you to take more, this is especially true in old people. If you are prescribed Ambien just put your proper dose out and get your husband/wife/family to look after the rest so you can't take more by accident.

[DocM]

To put it into perspective, acetaminophen (Tylenol etc.) is responsible for 56,000 emergency room visits and 26,000 hospitalizations.

With several tens of millions taking something the number of adverse reactions also goes up.

[Hum]

Not to mention the number of lawsuits every year, over presciption drugs.

 

This is why I avoid doctors.