From ABC News: “Among those using multiple medications, one in 12 was at risk for a major drug interaction, and the vast majority of these potential interactions involved antidepressants. Adolescent girls were at a higher risk of interacting drug regimens compared to other groups, largely because of their higher rate of medication use.
‘Drug interactions occur when one medication impacts the way another medication works on the body and how the other medication is broken down and cleared by the body,’ says Jeanette Trella, Managing Director of the Poison Control Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in an interview with ABC News. ‘This can result in increased risk of side effects; loss of effectiveness when one medication causes low levels of another; and increase in toxicity when one medication prevents the other from appropriately clearing out from the body.’
The authors note that their findings should bring particular attention to medication safety. Despite the implementation of national programs focusing on medication safety, side effects related to medications remain a leading cause of injuries and death among children and adolescents in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 200,000 children and teens visit emergency departments each year because of side effects related to medications.”
