When Medicines Become a Risky Mix (1/2)

Many people take several medicines to treat different conditions at the same time. Each medicine may be safe to use by itself, yet together there could be dangerous or even deadly drug interactions.

One example happened last year. Rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter Gerald Levert died at his home in Ohio. A medical examiner found that the death was accidental, caused by a mixture of medicines. He was 40 years old.

The drugs in his blood included the painkillers Vicodin, Percocet and Darvocet as well as the anxiety drug Xanax. These all require a doctor's approval. Other medications that are sold without the need for a prescription from a doctor were also found in his blood.

Earlier this year there was a government report on drug interactions. Researchers said deaths from accidental drug combinations in the United States increased almost 70%. That was between 1999 and 2004 .

In 2004, nearly twenty thousand people died from accidental drug poisonings. The problem is now the second most common cause of accidental death in the United States, after motor vehicle accidents.