Four Drugs Responsible for 100,000 Emergency Hospitalizations for Seniors from Adverse Drug Events Yearly

Two thirds involve just a handful of anticoagulants and diabetes medications according to a study. The study, by researchers from the CDC, singles out 4 drugs and drug classes: warfarin, oral antiplatelet medications, insulins, and oral hypoglycemic agents. Alone or together, they account for 67% of emergency ADE hospitalizations of adults 65 years and older. Warfarin was implicated in 33%. In contrast, medications red-flagged as high risk or inappropriate by health authorities explained only 1.2% and 6.6%, respectively, of such hospital admissions. For clinicians, the take-home message of the study is clear: improved management of antithrombotic and antidiabetes drugs can keep thousands of seniors out of the hospital. N Engl J Med. 2011;365:2002-2012.