Adverse Drug Reactions - Previous posts part 3

Found the following on the WDDTY website - the figures relate to the USA but for rough UK numbers divide by six - wouldn't you rather look after your health with vitamins, herbs and minerals?

Drug Reactions: Deaths and serious problems triple in 8 years
13 September 2007
The annual rates of serious adverse reactions and deaths from a prescribed drug have almost tripled since 1998.Just 51 drugs – including painkillers and immune system-modifying agents – were responsible for the vast majority of reactions, new figures reveal.In 2005 – the most recent year when figures have been made available - 15,107 people in America died as the result of taking a prescription drug, while 89,842 people suffered a serious adverse reaction, which resulted in disability, hospital care or a birth defect.These reactions – all reported to America’s drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration – represent an increase of 2.7 times on figures produced in 1998.Overall, the FDA received reports of 467,809 deaths and serious adverse reactions between 1998 and 2005.(Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007; 167: 1752-9).