According to the US Department of Health Services, an adverse drug event is an injury resulting from medical intervention related to a drug. These events can include adverse drug reactions, medication errors, allergic reactions, and overdoses. These incidents can cause unanticipated injuries, including death.
What is the definition of an adverse drug event?
In 2018, there were 4,214 million prescriptions filled in the United States. Medications can affect people in many ways and often side effects are unpredictable. Unfortunately, these unforeseen side effects and reactions can cause serious injury and even death. These adverse reactions could be the result of insufficient research or limited pre-market testing on behalf of a manufacturer. Thus, these potentially dangerous adverse drug reactions may not be discovered until the product has been released to the market. They are then prescribed to patients who are entirely unaware of the adverse reaction.
An adverse drug event could happen in any location: at the hospital, in a nursing home, or even in your own home. Adverse drug events that happen while in a medical setting such as a hospital are responsible for an estimated 1 in 3 of all hospital adverse events and they affect 2 million hospital stays each year. These events prolonged hospital stays by an average of 1.7 to 4.6 days.
In outpatient settings, the adverse reaction to medication is the cause of over 3.5 million physician office visits every year. As well as an estimated 1 million emergency department visits and approximately 125,000 hospital admissions.
What are some examples of an adverse drug event?
Adverse drug events cause approximately 1.3 million emergency room visits each year. About 350,000 patients each year need to be hospitalized for further treatment after emergency visits for adverse drug events. People typically take more medicines as they age, and thus the risk of adverse events grows with the increase in medication.
If you or a loved one have taken one of the following medications and had an adverse drug event that has negatively impacted you, contact a dangerous drug attorney to discuss drug litigation options at our office immediately at (877-375-700).
- Belviq
- Elmiron
- Invokana
- Limbrel
- Onglyza
- Opioids
- Opioid Withdrawal
- Reglan
- Risperdal
- SingulAir
- Talcum Powder
- Testosterone Powder
- Truvada
- Zantac
- Zostavax