VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A new report has found Canadian seniors are popping an alarming number of prescription pills every day. The study co-author believes it shows the need for your doctor to have electronic access to your medication records.
The study found 62 per cent of Canadians 65 and older have at least five prescriptions, while one in five has more than ten.
Study co-author, UBC Dr. Steve Morgan, says the findings indicate the need for doctors to have instant electronic access to your prescription records so they don't over medicate or prescribe a drug that doesn't work well with the pills you're already taking. "It's difficult to rely on paper-based systems or patient self reported. It would be a much more comprehensive system, and there would be less opportunity for things to fall through the cracks."
Morgan says with government help, B.C. doctors could use the PharmaNet system your pharmacist already has access to, to check on your prescriptions.
B.C. Medical Association president, Doctor Brian Brodie, agrees. He says right now doctors waste a lot of time phoning around to find out what prescriptions a patient is taking, or has taken in the past.