Adverse Drug Events or ADE’s / ADR’s for short, are injuries resulting from the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs, whether there was an allergic reaction, overdose, etc. They typically occur when doctors and pharmacists a like improperly prescribe drugs and drug regimen’s for individuals that are unable to have their enzymes break drugs down effectively at the rate in which they need to. Similarly, the chances of an ADE occurring increase for every drug prescribed which usually targets the elderly or sick. Unfortunately, ADE’s are responsible for the 4th most amount of deaths in the U.S. per year (TrialStaff, 2020). Not to mention, they can cost the U.S. healthcare system up to 30.1 billion dollars per year (TrialStaff, 2020)!

Even more so now than ever, we are seeing the usage of prescription drugs as well as over the counter or (OTC) drugs in everyday life. Most FDA approved drugs are approved for singular usage, and rarely take into account the many different drug interactions those who have large medication regimens could potentially possess. Because of this, we then have to rely solely on pharmacists and doctors alone in the prescribing and application of the certain drugs people take. Unfortunately, pharmacology is constantly changing and it is hard for both occupations to keep up with the many new updates pharmaceuticals will go through. Not to mention, doctors and pharmacists are also not able to keep track of over the counter drugs patients purchase on their own because of minor issues like colds, rashes, or pain. All in which make for a whole concoction of pharmaceuticals within a certain person’s body which could be incredibly harmful if combined on a regular basis. Ultimately calling for the need for a way an individual patient can keep track of these things themselves while an interactive artificial intelligence helps someone to make informed purchases when it comes to drugs. If possible, technology that can set up an algorithm for a drug’s make-up that can also detect when it may be harmful if combined with others could potentially be life saving and serve as a back-up or even a first response to keep a patient from having an ADE.

Tabula Rasa HealthCare has been designing an application through their MedWise Science technology (“Tabula Rasa Healthcare | a Family of Companies”) that does just this! It is a way in which designates a certain risk factor level for certain drugs and combinations of drugs. It has been going through certain designs and continues to strive towards this goal of helping those in need and also pharmacists and doctors too. It is a technology that is incredibly sought out after, and could not come soon enough based on the threat of ADE’s.

 

Sources:

Staff, TrialSite, et al. “Could Adverse Drug Reactions (Adrs) Be the Fourth Biggest Killer in America?” TrialSiteNews, 31 Mar. 2020, https://trialsitenews.com/could-adverse-drug-reactions-adrs-be-the-fourth-biggest-killer-in-america/.