Report drug side effects, physicians say

MORE than 1.5 million Australians suffer the side effects of medicines every year, presenting a real danger to public health, physicians say.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) wants healthcare professionals to report instances of patients having adverse reactions to drugs to minimise the risk of people taking the wrong medicines.

In its federal budget submission, the RACP on Friday called on the Labor government to make the proposed reporting measure mandatory for doctors and healthcare workers.

Currently, health carers aren't required to notify the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) about adverse drug reactions.

At present only nine per cent of reported cases are provided by this group of professionals.

Without reporting, there was a danger that safety issues involving certain medications will go undetected, RACP warns.

"Adverse drug events are a significant cost to the Australian community in terms of related visits to general practitioners, hospitals, and in severe cases, death," said Winston Liauw from the RACP's ethics advisory group.

At least 400,000 GP visits and 190,000 hospital admissions are linked to the side effects of medicines.

The public costs associated with medicine-related hospital visits in 2008 was $660 million, and around half of those visits were preventable, the RACP said.

Associate Professor Liauw said healthcare professionals could help the TGA in monitoring the safety of medicines by reporting instances where people had bad reactions.

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Report drug side effects, physicians say