AI could Offer Warnings about Serious Side Effects of Drug-Drug Interactions

In a study, researchers designed an algorithm that analyzes data on drug-drug interactions listed in reports - compiled by the Food and Drug Administration and other organizations - for use in a possible alert system that would let patients know when a drug combination could prompt dangerous side effects. "Let's say I'm taking a popular over-the-counter pain reliever and then I'm put on blood pressure medicine, and these medications have an interaction with each other that, in turn, affects my liver," said Soundar Kumara, the Allen E. Pearce and Allen M. Pearce Professor of Industrial Engineering, Penn State. "Essentially, what we have done, in this study, is to collect all of the data on all the diseases related to the liver and see what drugs interact with each other to affect the liver." Drug-drug interaction problems are significant because patients are frequently prescribed multiple drugs and they take over-the-counter medicine on their own, added Kumara, who also is an affiliate of the Institute for CyberScience, which provides supercomputing resources for Penn State researchers. "This study is of very high importance," said Kumara.