MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Apr 2005
Assessing the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project--six sites, United States, January 1-June 15, 2004.
Adverse drug events (ADEs) occur when therapeutic drugs have injurious effects; current systems for conducting national ADE surveillance are limited, and current national estimates of ADE incidence are problematic. In 2003, CDC, in collaboration with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), created the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance (NEISS-CADES) project by adding active surveillance of ADEs to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP). ⋯ As a result of these findings, additional training on identifying and reporting ADEs was initiated for all NEISS-CADES hospital coders. As more persons in the United States use drug therapies, active, postmarketing surveillance of ADEs can help identify safety problems and guide prevention efforts.
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Apr 2005
Anhydrous ammonia thefts and releases associated with illicit methamphetamine production--16 states, January 2000-June 2004.
Anhydrous ammonia, a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating fumes, is used primarily as an agricultural fertilizer and industrial refrigerant. Anhydrous ammonia is also a key ingredient for illicit methamphetamine (meth) production in makeshift laboratories. Exposure to anhydrous ammonia can be immediately dangerous to life or health. ⋯ If released into the environment, anhydrous ammonia can cause acute injuries to emergency responders, the public, and the cookers themselves. In addition, when handled improperly, anhydrous ammonia can be explosive and deadly. This report describes examples of anhydrous ammonia thefts associated with illicit meth production, summarizes ammonia theft events reported to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and suggests injury prevention recommendations, such as installing valve locks or fencing on unattended tanks and donning appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when responding to releases.