Drug-related harms in hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries: results from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, 2000–2008.
Prior studies have shown that older patients are particularly vulnerable to medication errors. This cohort study documents a marked increase in both hospitalizations due to adverse drug events and in Medicare patients between 2000 and 2008. During that time frame, the incidence of in-hospital adverse drug events and the severity of harm experienced by patients rose as well.