Pharmacists Play Crucial Role in Counseling, Reporting Adverse Drug Events
National Adverse Drug Event Awareness Day occurs annually on March 24 to raise awareness about minimizing the risk of adverse events caused by medications.
March 24 is National Adverse Drug Event Awareness Day, according to the American Society of Pharmacovigilance. The campaign is intended to raise awareness about minimizing the risk of adverse events (AEs) caused by medications through reporting and prevention.1
As the medication experts, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to report and counsel patients on adverse events due to their medication. | Image Credit: Zamrznuti tonovi | stock.adobe.com
AEs are considered an injury that results from a medical intervention by a drug, which can include medication errors, adverse drug reactions, allergic reactions, and overdose. According to a St. John Fisher University article, AEs result in approximately 3.5 million physician visits, 1 million emergency department visits, and 125000 hospital admissions each year.2
In the outpatient setting, cardiovascular, central nervous system, and anti-infective agents were reported to be the most frequent classes resulting in AEs in 2024, according to a study published in BMJ Quality and Safety.3
However, one of the most concerning areas of AEs includes elderly patients, who often experience polypharmacy, defined as the use of multiple drugs or more drugs than is medically necessary. According to research published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, approximately 50% of older adults take 1 or more medications that are not deemed medically necessary. Polypharmacy has been associated with negative clinical consequences. The data showed that interprofessional interventions, typically a clinical pharmacist, were effective in improving the quality of prescribing for this patient population.4
As medication experts, pharmacists often practice at the top of their license to mitigate AEs. In research published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, investigators of an observational study conducted questionnaires to pharmacists working in pharmacies that had reported drug-related issues and pharmacy interventions for OTC medication. They aimed to determine the prevalence of drug-related problems and categorize these issues. Fifty-two pharmacies in Finland were included and had a total of 339 drug-related issues for 0.6% of OTC customers.5
The main issue for customers was that there was uncertainty about the indication of the drug (39.2%); however, approximately 26.3% included high-risk OTC medications, with the majority being associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Further, there were 641 interventions used to resolve these issues, with 87% being attributed to pharmacist counselling, and in more than half of those cases, the pharmacy intervention was precautionary.5
The authors concluded that pharmacist intervention could prevent issues related to OTC medications, including high-risk medications that can lead to serious consequences when used incorrectly. In a study published in Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety, on predictors of adverse drug reaction reporting practice, there was a significant association between knowledge, designation, qualification, and work experiences. The investigators found that community pharmacists had good knowledge and attitude about adverse drug reactions, but they found uncertainty about how and where to report these.5,6
The investigators concluded, “Structured continuing professional development programs for community pharmacists are needed to overcome the barriers and enhance the practice of [adverse drug reaction] reporting.”6
