Commonly Used Medicines Send Seniors to Hospitals [as reported in The Wall Street Journal]

Commonly used diabetes pills and blood thinners—not high-risk medications like opiate painkillers—are behind most visits by senior citizens to U.S. emergency rooms for drug reactions and unintentional overdoses, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

The findings suggest that hundreds of millions of dollars could be saved annually by improving the education and drug management of people with certain chronic conditions.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that 99,628 hospitalizations every year of people 65 years and older are linked to adverse drug events such as allergic reactions and unintentional overdoses. Nearly half of those hospitalized were adults 80 years old and older.