ABSTRACT
Introduction The ineffective and unfortunate consequences of medication use, referred to as drug-related morbidity and mortality (DRM&M), are an insidious public health nemesis that has persisted for many years. It’s almost as if consumers perceive the unfortunate consequences of medication use as inevitable and a typical cost of doing business. The magnitude of this problem came to light with a study published in 1995 [1]. Additional research and analyses followed indicating that DRM&M is a nearly $(USD)300 billion annual burden in the United States [2-4]. In other words, we spend almost as much to fix the bad things that happen when patients take medications as we do to purchase pharmaceutical products.
