The death of the Australian actor Heath Ledger due to accidental overdose of prescription drugs directed attention of various experts to the deaths which are result of mistakes done while taking prescribed drugs.

The research done by University of California, San Diego showed that number of deaths due to medication mistakes at home have increased drastically within a decade. The data collected from 50 million U.S death certificates showed that more than 224,000 people died due to fatal medication errors (FMEs), including overdoses and mixing prescription drugs with alcohol or street drugs.

The researchers found that the FMEs occurring at home, combined with alcohol and/or street drugs increased by 3,196 percent as compared to 5 percent increase in FMEs not happening at home and not involving alcohol and/or street drugs. The study showed that the number of deaths due to FMEs increased by 890.8 percent among people aged 40 to 59.

David P. Phillips, the lead researcher of the study, said, “I also didn't know from this paper that the number of years of potential life lost from potential medication errors are greater than the number of years of potential life lost from all accidents combined, including falls and drowning."

Mr Philips added that the amount of medical supervision is going down and the amount of responsibility put on the patient's shoulders is going up. He said that the medicines which were only given to patients inside the hospital are now prescribed for use at home. The researchers added that the multiple prescription drugs increases the danger of FMEs. The research showed that people don’t hesitate from mixing alcohol with prescriptions

Another study showed that many people share prescriptions. This study found out that 23 percent people share their prescription with their friends. While 27 percent people accepted that they are using prescriptions of their friends. Some people don’t even think it’s important to consult a doctor before using borrowed prescriptions.