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Harmful Interactions Not Just a Problem for Supplements

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By: Sean Moloughney

Editor, Nutraceuticals World

The timing of the two news items—a national health report and the autopsy of an R&B singer—was coincidental. But coming on the same day…they illustrated a deadly, growing problem with prescription and over-the-counter medications…autopsy results showed that R&B singer Gerald Levert had died of an accidental drug interaction while taking pain medications (Vicodin, Percocet and Darvocet), anxiety medication (Xanax) and two over-the-counter antihistamines. The cause of death was ruled accidental acute intoxication. The same day, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] announced that drug interactions had grown to be the second-leading cause of accidental deaths nationwide, behind auto accidents. The number of deaths caused by unintentional drug interactions reached 19,838 in 2004, a 68 percent increase over the 11,155 deaths in 1999…Stephanie Peshek, a Summa Health System pharmacist, isn’t surprised by the CDC’s report. And if people can learn just one thing from the CDC and Levert’s death, it’s that over-the-counter medications—even the antihistamines many of us use this time of year—can be dangerous…The CDC called for more regulations to prevent deadly drug interactions. Peshek, though, said: “There are plenty of regulations. People just don’t take them seriously.”

—Tracy Wheeler, Akron Beacon Journal, 2/16/07

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