Patients Vulnerable to Adverse Drug Events Often Receive High-Risk Prescriptions

Adverse drug events (ADEs) occur commonly, but many are preventable. In this cross-sectional study that involved 315 general practices in Scotland, investigators determined the prevalence and characteristics of high-risk drug prescribing to primary care patients who were deemed to be particularly vulnerable to ADEs.

Overall, 139,000 patients (among ≈2 million) were identified as especially vulnerable to ADEs because of older age, preexisting conditions (e.g., chronic kidney disease, peptic ulcer disease, heart failure), or concurrent prescriptions (e.g., warfarin, angiotensin-converting–enzyme inhibitors). Among these patients, 19,000 (14%) received at least one high-risk prescription in the previous year. For 15 prescribing-safety indicator…