Stanford Health Library welcomed Mehrdad Ayati, MD, geriatrician, to address the issue of prescription medications for the aging population.  This population is prescribed the highest proportion of medications in relation to their percentage of the U.S population –13% of current geriatric population purchase 33% of all prescription drugs and this number will increase to 50% by 2040.

Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) are responsible for 5-28% of acute geriatric medical admissions. In this review, Dr. Ayati talks about the drug mechanism, why some people are able to tolerate some medications and why some others not, what we can do to change the nature of practice of medicine in the future and how we can provide more safety for us when we age.  This lecture was held on June 28, 2013, and was recorded.