Older patients on multiple medications are complex. The first phase, completed last summer, involved researchers from McMaster University and the Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre at St. Joseph's Hospital, all in Hamilton. People with heart trouble should be careful. Check combinations of cholesterol-lowering drugs which may lead to kidney failure. Grapefruit juice can magnify the effects of certain drugs, such as blood-pressure medicine, which can cause toxicity.
Vitamin E mixed with some anticoagulants can lead to unexpected bleeding.
Speaking from Seattle where he is on sabbatical from McMaster, Sellors said he was surprised at how receptive the doctors were to advice from the pharmacists who reviewed the drug plans of patients taking five or more medications. The study could result in changes to the delivery of health care across Canada depending on the results of phase 2, funded by the Ontario Health Ministry, which is examining the costs of the increased doctor-pharmacist relations in phase 1. In the first phase, the 48 doctors were divided, half into a control group in which pharmacists weren't involved, and the rest into an intervention group in which pharmacists met with doctors and patients. In the intervention group, pharmacists made an average of three drug-related recommendations for each patient. Their doctors said they intended to follow the pharmacist's advice in 84 per cent of cases.