Senators Call for Task Force on Adverse Drug Reactions
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has prompted two Senators to call for a joint task force to be created.
Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have requested that the US Department of Health and Human Services Convene a multi-agency task force to, according to The Hill journalist Julian Pacquet, "help identify patients at risk for adverse drug reactions."
The request was inspired by a NEJM article that found that four types of medications were responsible for more than 2/3rds of all adverse drug events (ADEs). The task force would serve to provide information about ADE's to patients and providers in the hopes of reducing hospitalizations.