Medicines cure infectious diseases, prevent problems from chronic diseases, and alleviate pain and suffering for millions of Americans every day. But medicines can also cause harm. When someone has been harmed by a medicine, they have had an adverse drug event. To reduce the risk of harm from adverse drug events adults should:

Keep a list of your medicines

Follow directions

Ask questions

Keep up with any blood testing recommended by your doctor

Take pain relievers and antibiotics only as directed

Adverse drug events are a large public health problem.

Adverse drug events cause over 700,000 emergency department visits each year. Nearly 120,000 patients each year need to be hospitalized for further treatment after emergency visits for adverse drug events. As more and more people take more medicines, the risk of adverse events may increase.

As people age, they typically take more medicines. Older adults (65 years or older) are twice as likely as others to come to emergency departments for adverse drug events (over 177,000 emergency visits each year) and nearly seven times more likely to be hospitalized after an emergency visit.

Keep a list of your medicines. Keep a list of the names of your medicines, how much you take, and when you take them. Some medicines have two names, a brand name and a generic name. It is important to know both. Include over-the-counter medicine, vitamins, and supplements and herbs. Take this list to all your doctor visits and update it when your medicines change. total2page: Pre 1 Next