OF3-11/05/09 8:25 AM
CURBING ACCIDENTAL DRUG OVERDOSES.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
In an ideal world, all an agency like the FDA would have to do is just put information on the medicine bottle and that would be enough. But in the real world --- in the bathrooms and hospitals, doctor's offices, and homes --- people make mistakes.
SOT - Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA
"It isn't just overdoses --- it's all kinds of mistakes in prescribing, in using drugs, or even inadvertently exposing children to medicines that they then might take and be injured or have to go to the hospital. So, there're a wide range of incidences where medications cause harm, if they aren't used safely."
The FDA now realizes that in the real world people aren't perfect, says Dr. Janet Woodcock.
SOT - Dr. Janet Woodcock
"We're going beyond our traditional regulatory role in saying we aren't just changing a label or putting warnings on. We're going to take charge of making sure that the outcome is successful, that people aren't overdosed by drugs, that we're going to work with the outside world --- the private sector and so forth --- to make sure that we have the right outcome, that we reduce this kind of harm."
The FDA isn't in the hospitals, but they know what goes on there.
SOT - Dr. Janet Woodcock
"Each year, we know that there are 400,000 patients in hospitals that have a preventable reaction to a drug."
The FDA would be shocked to see how prescription bottles are left out on the bathroom sink, where anybody can pick up the wrong bottle --- including the kids. Right now, the FDA has the information, says Dr. Woodcock.
SOT - Dr. Janet Woodcock
"But if that information is not at the point of prescribing or the point of use by patient or consumer, it's not doing any good. And that's where a lot of this preventable harm happens, because people aren't assimilating that information."
Where are we headed with this? Watch out, everybody: Here comes the FDA...
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. November 5th, 2009. |
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