What medications cause ADEs?
Almost any medication can cause an ADE. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there are four drug classes that are most likely to cause an adverse event:
- Antibiotics cause 16% of emergency department visits for ADEs, most of which are severe allergic reactions. The 200,000 antibiotic-related ADEs each year are another reason to minimize antibiotic use.
- Anticoagulants, drugs like warfarin, rivaroxaban, or apixaban, are the most common cause of ADEs among older adults. Nearly a third of emergency department visits for ADEs for those 65 or older are related to oral anticoagulants.
- Insulin causes up to 100,000 emergency visits per year for ADEs, including severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) that can lead to shock, seizures, or loss of consciousness. Older adults are more than twice as likely as their younger peers to experience an insulin-related ADE.
- Opioids have been prescribed more often in recent years, leading to an increase in overdoses, the most common opioid-related ADE. In fact, the number of overdoses and deaths from prescribed opioids is now higher than that of illegal drugs.