This retrospective review conducted at four Canadian acute care hospitals describes preventable adverse drug events occurring in patients presenting to the emergency department. Preventable adverse drug events commonly involved anticoagulants, diuretics, insulin, and aspirin, and disproportionally affected patients with diabetes or mental health diagnoses. The study found that poor communication, lack of patient education, non-adherence, and inadequate monitoring were common contributing factors to preventable adverse drug events.

… CMAJ Open … An accurate list of patient medications is a necessary precursor for safe medication use . One strategy … to improve medication reconciliation is to provide a list of dispensed outpatient medications to inpatient … adversely impact medication safety. A previous WebM&M commentary discussed how to enhance accuracy of medication …

… visits and hospitalizations every year. Reporting ADEs is a crucial aspect of drug safety monitoring programs and … drug safety monitoring by facilitating data aggregation on a larger scale. …

… … J Am Med Inform Assoc … Using administrative data as a means of detecting safety problems has inherent appeal, as …

… department (ED) with an adverse drug event (ADE) are a source of continued concern , particularly as many ADEs are … found that patients presenting with an ADE had a higher risk of spending additional hospital days per month, … during a 6-month follow-up period. A past AHRQ WebM&M perspective discusses the broader aspects of providing safe …

… medicine … Ann Emerg Med … Adverse drug events are a common cause of emergency department visits in children and … emergency physicians identify medication errors as a cause of a patient's presenting symptoms. In this study, emergency …

… of medication-related visits to the emergency department: a prospective study.  CMAJ . 2008;178(12):1563-1569. …