3 Kings that Bring Pt 2u

Three drugs may be responsible for one-third of drug-related ED visits by senior citizens, study suggests.

 

Side effects from the anticoagulant warfarin, the heart drug digoxin, and insulin "are responsible for" 33 percent of emergency department (ED) "visits by senior citizens who had adverse reactions to medications," according to a study published in the Dec. 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Lead author Dr. Daniel Budnitz, a medical officer with the CDC, and colleagues, found that in 2004 and 2005, these three drugs "caused about 58,000" ED "visits a year in those 65 and older."

For the study, the researchers "looked at several surveys of" ED "visits from 2004 and 2005." According to the researchers, while there are forty-one drugs on a "list -- called the BEERS criteria -- of medications considered inappropriate for the elderly," those drugs "accounted for just 3.6 percent of a total of about 177,000 annual" drug-related visits to the ED.

The researchers noted that in some situations, "there aren't good alternatives to" to the three common drugs identified as causing the most emergency department visits, "although some doctors consider digoxin to have outlived its usefulness."