Background: Addressing the needs of the geriatric population is critical, as “baby boomers” comprise a larger proportion of hospitalized patients. Hospitalists increasingly care for these complex geriatric patients. The “BEERS Criteria” are evidence-based guidelines that encourage medication safety by describing potentially inappropriate and harmful medications (PIMS) among geriatric patients. BEERS guidelines recommend that with a [...]

Background: Although alcohol withdrawal (AW) is common in hospitalized patients, few studies describe contemporary alcohol withdrawal management in hospitalized settings or compare practices to recent guidelines published by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). We sought to describe patient characteristics and determine factors associated with complicated withdrawal and treatment duration in hospitalized patients with [...]

Background: Background Fatalities caused by drug-overdose have increased in recent years across the US and are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. Drug related deaths with cointoxicants are being seen more often and the increase in prevalence of opioid overdoses with possible concomitant medication use is a public health concern [...]

Background: Patients with alcohol use disorder are at high risk of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) while hospitalized. AWS includes a wide spectrum of clinical features and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Pharmacologic treatment of AWS revolves around the use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) or phenobarbital (PHB). Current literature recommends symptom-triggered BZD dosing as first [...]