[Prevention of avoidable iatrogenic effects: the obligation for vigilance]

Latrogenic-related morbidity and mortality rates are difficult to determine. Certain estimations in France and other countries have suggested that drug-related accidents alone could account for 5 to 10% of all acute hospitalizations. This would mean that in France, several thousand deaths are caused annuallty by drugs.

Independent of the human aspect, health care expenditures related to iatrogenic accidents are substantial. In France, the cost would be several ten billion francs. Although the cost/benefit ratio remains highly positive, statistically speaking one cannot ignore the high cost of severe accidents.

There is an urgent need to persuade the public opinion that all effective medicines, like all surgical procedures, carry a risk. Zero risk does not exist. Patients, and the public in general, should come to realize that the objective is to minimize risk inherent in all therapies.

It is the duty of the entire health care team to calculate the level of acceptable risk and take all the necessary preventive measures. One of the objectives of the French National Educational Association for Training in Therapeutics (APNET) is to define means of reducing latrogenic effects.