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The use of salicylates dates back 2,500 years to Hippocrates’s recommendation of willow bark (from which a salicylate is derived) as an aid to the pains of childbirth. However, overdosage of salicylates can harm body fluids, electrolytes, the CNS, the GI tract, the ears, the lungs, the blood, the liver, and the kidneys and cause coma or death.
In the United States, an estimated 50 million unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for viral respiratory infections.
Excessive alcohol use costs the country approximately $235 billion every year.
More than 34,000 trademarked medication names and more than 10,000 generic medication names are in use in the United States.
The U.S. Pharmacopeia Medication Errors Reporting Program states that approximately 50% of all medication errors involve insulin.