In a landmark report commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, startling findings about the extent of medication-related iatrogenic harm are presented. The sobering headlines:
- 250,000 hospital admissions result from medication-related problems each year
- The associated annual cost is estimated at $1.4 billion
- Medication-related problems are thought to account for 400,000 additional presentations to emergency departments each year, in many cases these are preventable