The San Diego chapter of the Amazing Care Network was treated to a very informative talk on prescription drug use/abuse by Drs. Sarah Lorentz and Nate Painter, from UC San Diego’s School of Clinical Pharmacy. I now have a better understanding as to why 25% of all hospital admissions by seniors are caused by adverse drug interactions. That’s quite a number and a sobering reality.

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Drs. Lorentz and Painter discussed two cases that illustrated the difficulty in understanding the complexity of drug interactions when we are prescribed medication. For example, two (or more) drugs prescribed for different purposes may have duplicate ingredients that could trigger a negative reaction. We also learned about side effects from taking certain drugs and the need to be proactive in discussing them with the attending physician.

Finally, we learned about an innovative program pioneered by UCSD’s School of Clinical Pharmacy called Medication Therapy Management (MTM for short) which helps people like us make sense of our drug regimen. Those services are available for a modest fee to ACN members. If interested, please send us a note (send to customer.service@amazingcarenetowrk.com) and we’ll be happy to make a referral. Our thanks go to Drs. Lorentz and Painter for an informative talk and an invitation to engage them as we have need. – Cora