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Drug Combinations Putting Seniors at Risk

"This is especially important in patients who see multiple providers and patients that fill at multiple pharmacies."

Dr. Laurie Jacobs, chief of geriatric medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, believes that the potential for adverse drug reactions by mixing drugs is great and patients need to coordinate their medication use with one doctor to guard against harmful interactions.

"No one is looking over the number of medicines they are on to look for potential interactions," Jacobs said. "Someone other than the patient should go over the whole list."

Jacobs noted that the increase in the number of people taking drugs is a good thing. "There has been an intensification of therapy for disease," she reasoned.

However, there has also been a growth in the number of medications and an increased effort in marketing them, which makes people seek out doctors who will prescribe them, Jacobs said. In addition, there has also been an increase in the use of supplements, she noted.

"Often patients have difficulty evaluating the appropriateness of supplements with their own medical problems," Jacobs said. "They are not seeking the advice of their physician on supplement use," she said.

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Susan Cody

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