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Drug-Related Visits to the Emergency Department

Clinical Service Unit Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vancouver General Hospital, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, zed{at}interchange.ubc.ca

Over the past few years, several published reports have addressed the problem of drug-related morbidity in various practice settings. Studies evaluating drug-related hospitalization have estimated that approximately 5% to 10% of all hospital admissions are drug related. Unfortunately, many of these studies have excluded patients seeking medical attention in the emergency department (ED) but not requiring hospital admission. Drug-related visits to the emergency department are a significant problem and contribute to overall pressures on our current health care system. Despite the limited information published regarding drug-related ED visits, several studies describe the impact of this issue. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature pertaining to the incidence, classification, severity, preventability, and economic impact of drug-related visits to the emergency department.

Key Words: Adverse drug event • drug-related problem • pharmaceutical care • emergency department

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