According to researchers at the University of Toronto, prescription medications and over-the-counter remedies kill more than 100,000 Americans each year, and seriously injure an additional 2.1 million. (These statistics do not include deaths and injury from drug abuse or prescribing errors.) This means that adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease, cancer, lung disease and strokes.

These findings came as a surprise to many, because deaths from adverse drug reactions are rarely recorded on death certificates. For example, a certificate might list stomach hemorrhage as the cause of death, but not mention that it was a medication that brought it on.

Despite the dangers inherent in medical drugs, doctors do not advise people to stop taking their medications, since they do more good than harm.

In related news, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 90,000 people are killed annually in the U.S. by infections acquired in the hospital. The cost of treating such infections is $4.5 billion a year.

SOURCE: Internet Access July 1999, Spectrum Magazine, www.garynull.com