Program Warns Of Drug Conflicts

A unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc. has come up with a system that can warn doctors and pharmacies about potentially dangerous drug interactions.

Prescriptions Solutions, Irvine, Calif. Says the Drug Interaction Alert Program uses "real-time," faxed, patient-specific notices to warn doctors about conflicts between drugs prescribed by a patients' doctors.

In a test involving 8,000 plan members taking multiple drugs on a long-term basis, the program helped draw attention to potentially dangerous interactions for about 40%, according to Prescription Solutions.