The 75-year-old prostate cancer survivor and Type 2 Diabetic knows his medication organiser will likely expand as he ages.
The Perth man is among seven per cent of Australians, or 1.9 million people, who are regularly dispensed five or more medications at a time in 2025, known as polypharmacy, a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on Wednesday reveals.
Polypharmacy was experienced across all age groups and impacted men and women at about the same rate, according to the figures collated using Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data.
It was most common among older Australians, affecting 40 per cent of people 75 and older.
Taking multiple medicines at the same time was often appropriate for patients with multiple conditions, but a more thorough approach was needed, Australian Deprescribing Network chair Emily Reeve told AAP.
"We know that the more medicines that somebody takes, the more likely they are to be taking one where the harms outweigh the benefits," Dr Reeve said.
A quarter of a million Australians are hospitalised each year due to drug side effects and medication errors, according to a 2019 report by the University of South Australia.
A further 400,000 people arrive at hospital emergency departments as a result of issues with their medications, including prescribing errors, inappropriate use and interaction between two or more drugs, the study found.
Cardiovascular medications and blood thinners are among drugs which can result in adverse events such as falls, cognitive impairments and functional decline, particularly in older people.
"How the body gets rid of the medicines can change with age, so the risk of adverse events or adverse drug reactions is typically higher in the older people because the drugs aren't cleared as easily," Pharmaceutical Society of Australia president Mark Naunton told AAP.
Pharmaceutical opioids were attributed to two deaths, 13 ambulance attendances and six hospitalisations every day, Dr Reeve said.
Adverse side effects could easily be reduced through medicine review schemes such as the federal government's Home Medicines Review, Dr Naunton said.
The scheme sees registered pharmacists visit about 100,000 patients every year in their homes to review their medications.
More considered collaboration between healthcare providers was also key to decreasing preventable hospitalisations, Associate Professor Reeve, who works at Monash University's Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, said.
"Unfortunately our healthcare system isn't set up super well for looking at people with polypharmacy," she said.
"We are very good at diagnosing and initiating treatment, but ... there's lots of barriers around difficulties communicating between healthcare professionals."
While he hasn't had a Home Medicines Review, Mr Benson, who also has a stent in his heart, said he was grateful for his community pharmacist who thoroughly assesses his medicines for potential interactions.
"Because I have different specialists for different conditions, they aren't always aware of what's going on," he told AAP.
"There was one occasion where my pharmacist did say 'you've been prescribed this by your cardiologist, but it doesn't go well with one of the diabetes medications you're on'."
10°C