Ep29: Drug Interactions and Deprescribing

Drug-drug interactions might be responsible for a million hospitalisations in Australia every year. They have become more frequent over the decades, as more medications reach the market. More than half of people over the age of 75 are on five or more prescriptions—a state referred to as polypharmacy. This episode examines some of the systems that have led to current rates of polypharmacy, and some strategies for deprescribing. We also discuss a review from the Internal Medicine Journal on the common drug interactions physicians should be most concerned about.

Guests: Professor Richard Day FRACP (St Vincent’s Hospital, UNSW), Professor Sarah Hilmer FRACP (Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney). 

Links to Professor Day’s article and related resources are provided at the RACP website.