Overmedication
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [1] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.
Overmedication is when a doctor prescribes unnecessary or excessive medication to a patient. This may happen because the doctor is unaware of other medications the patient is already taking, because the doctor or pharmacist is unaware of how a drug may interact with another chemical or target population, or because of other human error. Sometimes, the extra prescription is intentional (and sometimes illegal), as in the case of the use of excessive psychoactive medications as "chemical restraints" for elderly patients in nursing homes.[1]
Possible side effects of overmedication may include:
- Slowed reaction: speech, movement and thought
- Sleeplessness
- Increased confusion
- Unsteady gait
- Constipation
- Dry mouth
- Blurry vision
- Increased agitation
- Uncontrollable repetitive movement of the tongue, feet, hands and trunk
- Hallucinations
Over-medication can also occur when consumers take more medication than is prescribed or as labeled on over-the-counter products -- either intentionally or unintentionally -- or when consumers unknowingly take both prescription and nonprescription drug products containing the same active ingredients. For example, over-medication can occur when a prescription drug like Vicodin, which contains both hydrocodone and acetaminophen, is taken along with the nonprescription product Tylenol, which contains acetaminophen as the active ingredient. In other words, over-medication can be caused by both prescribers and consumers or their caretakers.
Another important instance of over-medication occurs when consumers are either prescribed or take additional prescribed or otc drugs which produce the same or similar therapetic effects. For instance, if a patient is taking a prescription strength ibuprofen product and also uses a naprosyn product -- whether prescription or otc strength -- this, too, can constitute over-medication, can be dangerous, and can be costly to the patient in overall health care costs. Ofttimes consumers/patients over-medicate themselves by taking their medications at shorter intervals than prescribed or than container labels specify. As a result, medications may accumulate at higher levels, causing undesired side-effects, sometimes serious, even fatal.
Sources
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
