By Susan Jaffe | KAISER HEALTH NEWS | March 23, 2010
This story was produced in collaboration with
Irene Mooney survived four heart attacks and still copes with high cholesterol, persistent indigestion and heart problems. Recently, she developed some dangerous new symptoms – suspicious bruising all over her body and severe fatigue. “I could barely put one foot in front of the other,” she says. A pharmacist discovered the culprit: Some of the very medications Mooney was taking to manage her medical conditions.
The pharmacist met with Mooney, examined her 13 medications and then contacted her doctor, who cut the dosage of one drug and replaced another, reducing her risk of uncontrollable bleeding. Mooney, 82, one of the devoted card players at her seniors’ complex, soon noticed the change. “I’ve been so much better,” she says.
The help Mooney got – called “medication therapy management” – was provided by Senior PharmAssist, a Durham, N.C., non-profit group that makes sure seniors use the right prescription drugs and take them correctly to prevent harmful side effects or drug interactions.
Now, medication management is coming to nearly 7 million seniors and disabled Americans enrolled in Medicare drug plans. [Continued at Kaiser Health News and USA Today
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