Study: Many ER visits the result of adverse reactions to antibiotics
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
October 8, 2008
One in five visits to the emergency room (ER) that deal with medications result from adverse reactions to antibiotics, reports the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Most of those visits concerned allergic reactions to antibiotics, more specifically. The study examined data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project as well as the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
Researchers say that reducing the number of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions would lower the number of these ER visits, and ultimately patient harm related to antibiotics.
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