According to UK researchers, common painkillers could trigger heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage and dangerous bleeds in high risk patients. Researchers estimated that prescribing certain pain-relieving drugs to of high risk groups will cost the NHS England around £31 million over 10 years. For those who don't know, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be used to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and reduce fever. These include drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen. These also happen to be one of the most widely prescribed groups of medicines.

In the research, published in BMJ, the researchers wrote, "NSAIDs, including aspirin, are responsible for 30 per cent of hospital admissions related to an adverse drug event, mainly due to gastrointestinal bleeding, myocardial infarction, stroke, and renal

injury."

Many countries around the world, including the UK, have made efforts to reduce the amount of painkillers being prescribed. They have suggested certain safer alternatives to GPs. However, it has not made a lot of difference.

Certain risk groups include:

The researchers said, "NSAIDs continue to be a source of avoidable harm and healthcare costs, despite a range of initiatives to reduce their use, especially in populations at high risk." They further added, "Therefore, a concerted effort should be made to continue to include NSAIDs in patient safety and deprescribing initiatives.”

The researchers used data from pharmacists on medication errors. They also used economic models to estimate the harm caused to patients with each harmful prescribing event. It was then concluded that over the 10 years, the five NSAID related hazardous prescribing events led to a total loss of 6,335 quality adjusted life years (QALYs), at an estimated cost of £31.43 million to the NHS in England. The average cost to the NHS ranged from £14 for prescribing NSAIDs to patients with heart failure, to £1,097 in people also taking anticoagulants.

The main type of NSAIDs include: