Consumer report medication

The ISMP reports medication errors through various newsletters that target health professionals in acute care, nursing, and community/ambula-tory care. The ISMP also has launched a newsletter for consumers called Safe Medicine. 

Barry Stimmel and the editors of Consumer Reports Books. The Facts About Drug Use (New York The Haworth Medical Press, 1993), p. 190. 

Access to self-medication options empowers consumers and enhances their desire to take control of their own health conditions. Some important reasons why consumers use non-prescription medications include convenience, cost, time, and their attitudes, values, and beliefs. Consumers turn to non-prescription medications for 38% of all health problems they experience. It is known that consumers in the United States use more non-prescription medications than anywhere else in the world, with the sale of these products exceeding 30 billion dollars annually. Sales of OTCs have increased steadily over the years. Table 3 provides a 5-yr trend analysis of OTC sales by cate-gory.f Yet for this vast volume, OTC medications still take up less than 2 cents of every healthcare dollar spent by an individual.In addition to the clinical and economic benefits of using non-prescription products, 92% of consumers report they are satisfied with the medications they have used for self-care. " ... 

Understanding the Consumer s View. In 1997, the National Patient Safety Foundation commissioned a survey of how the public perceives risk when interacting with the health care system. Of those who responded, 42 percent reported that either they or someone they knew had experienced an injury when visiting a physician s office (Louis Harris and Associates, 1997). Studies by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund support these results. A 2002 Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that one-third of U.S. physicians reported that they or a family member had been harmed by medical error (Blendon and others, 2002). The Commonwealth Fund found that one in ten consumers reported... 

JCAE, Hearings on Radiation Standards, 1962, pp. 111-116, 859 "Iodine-131 in Fallout," Consumer Reports, p. 447 Transcript of proceedings. Public Health Service meeting with state health officers, 26 Oct. 1961, File 144, Public Health Service Records American Medical Association news release, 29 Sept. 1961, General Correspondence (Fallout), JCAE Papers Hazel Gaudet Erskine, "The Polls Atomic Weapons and Nuclear Energy," Public Opinion Quarterly 27 (Summer 1963), 188. 

The pharmacist or physician can report any problems experienced with dmg products and medical devices. In cases where the PDA and/or manufacturer finds that a marketed product constitutes an actual or potential threat to the safety and welfare of the pubhc, that product must be withdrawn from the marketplace, ie, recalled. Several classes of recalls exist, depending on the relative danger that the product exhibits. C/ass I dmgs pose a serious health threat and may require withdrawal at the consumer level C/ass II dmgs pose a possible or potential health problem that usually means withdrawal at the pharmacy or wholesaler levels and C/ass III dmgs may present a remote hazard to health and safety. 

In addition to the CIR process the cosmetic industry has instituted a second, important, self-regulatory procedure the voluntary reporting of adverse reactions, which is intended to provide data on the type and incidence of adverse reactions noted by consumers or by their medical advisors. This reporting procedure creates early awareness of problems handled outside hospital emergency facilities or centers for acute poisoning. 

Similarly, convulsive seizures and a sustained epileptic state persisted after stomach contents were pumped and activated charcoal and anticonvulsive medication were administered in a 43-year-old man who ingested approximately 260 mg/kg endosulfan (Boereboom et al. 1998). At 4 days after exposure, the man was pronounced brain dead, and autopsy revealed cerebral hernia from massive cerebral edema. Eight additional accidental and/or intentional cases of acute poisoning with endosulfan resulting in adverse neurological effects have been reported in more recent studies, six by Blanco-Coronado et al. (1992), one by Lo et al. (1995), and one by Pradhan et al. (1997) two out of the eight resulted in death. Tonic-clonic convulsions were seen in the Blanco-Coronado et al. (1992) cases, whereas Lo et al. (1995) reported the development of muscle fasciculations and episodes of convulsions in their case. In the case reported by Pradhan et al. (1997), the patient had consumed about 75 mL of hquid endosulfan (35% w/v). In this case, in addition to tonic-clonic seizures and myoclonic jerks, the patient developed... 

It is commonly assumed that the ubiquitous office coffee pot is heavily used by workers in order to increase their levels of wakefulness, alertness, and, more generally, arousal.4 There may, however, be a number of additional perceived or actual benefits of work-related caffeine intake. Headaches, for example, are often reported in work settings, and one study showed that workers sometimes consume caffeine primarily to relieve them.101 This finding is consistent with the widespread medical use of caffeine to treat headache.102103... 

From 1980 through June 2000, the FDA received a total of 34,011 reports describing adverse reactions attributed to food additives, food products, infant formula, medical foods, dietary supplements, and other substances in food. Adverse reaction reports were submitted by consumers, food companies, consumer advocacy groups, and by individuals commenting on various FDA initiatives and proposals. The food additives receiving the most complaints are shown in Table 7.1. The fat substitute olestra accounted for more than half of all complaints received by ARMS. The following six sections pertain to food additives that have generated controversy because of safety concerns. For each additive, pertinent data from the ARMS database are presented. 

Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly-Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) (2007) Preliminary report on the safety of medical devices containing DEHP-plasticized PVC or other plasticizers on neonates and other groups possibly at risk. European Commission, Health and Consumer Protection... 

Various phthalate esters have been reported to be present in the enviromnent, including outdoor air, water, and soil [3-6], consumer products [7, 8], medical devices [9], marine ecosystems [10], and indoor air and dust [5, 11, 12]. They are also widely present in dairy products [13] and food in general [14]. 

Only one report of human death attributed to 1,4-dichlorobenzene exposure has been located in the literature. A 60-year-old man and his wife died within months of each other due to acute yellow atrophy of the liver (also known as massive hepatic necrosis or fulminant hepatitis) (Cotter 1953). Their home had been "saturated" with 1,4-dichlorobenzene mothball vapor for a period of about 3-4 months, but no air measurements were available. Clinical symptoms included severe headache, diarrhea, numbness, clumsiness, slurred speech, weight loss (50 pounds in 3 months in the case of the husband), and jaundice. The wife died within a year of the initial exposure however, it was not clear if 1,4-dichlorobenzene was the primary cause of death. This case study did not address whether these individuals consumed excessive amounts of alcohol or had previous medical problems, such as a chronic liver infection. 

Ko Y, Brown M, Frost R, Woosley RL. Brief report development of a prescription medication information webliography for consumers. J Gen Intern Med 2006 21(12) 1313-6. 

Alcohol is one of the most commonly consumed drugs in the world and has been used by humans since the Stone Age. It is anxiolytic for this reason, it has been used not only for relaxation purposes but also by people with anxiety disorders to suppress their symptoms. Between 10% and 20% of agoraphobic patients are alcohol dependent. Thyrer et al. [1986] reported a 36% prevalence of alcoholism among socially phobic patients entering an anxiety disorders clinic, and [according to population studies] 20%-80% of people with posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] are dependent on alcohol. Sierles et al. [1983], in their study of Vietnam War veterans with PTSD, found that 64% were alcohol dependent. Since the Epidemiological Catchment Area study estimated the lifetime prevalence of PTSD to be 1% in the United States population, it is clear that self-medication with alcohol for anxiety symptoms will have a major influence on the development of alcohol dependency [Regier et al. 1990]. 

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