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Title: Another reminder on prescribing to older adults

Category: Geriatrics

Keywords: GEMRX Prescribing older (PubMed Search)

Posted: 7/12/2026 by Robert Flint, MD (Updated: 7/21/2026)

A good reminder to consider careful prescribing to older patients at the time of ED discharge. 

From this study: “Nearly 1 in 10 older adults filled a high-risk GEMS-Rx medication within 3?days of ED discharge between 2017 and 2022. Despite a decline in GEMS-Rx medication fills over time, younger cohorts of older adults and females were more likely to fill a high-risk medication upon ED discharge.”

Click for Gems-RX list

Additional Information

Medications on GEMS Rx list

  1. Benzodiazepines
  2. Barbiturates
  3. Z medications (sedative hypnotics)
  4. Metoclopramide
  5. First generation Antihistamines
  6. First generation antipsychotics
  7. sulfonylureas
  8. Skeletal Muscle relaxers

References

S. E. Follman, M. Canavan, C. Rothenberg, et al., “ High-Risk Medication Prescribing Among Older Adults in the Emergency Department: A National Assessment,” Academic Emergency Medicine 33, no. 5 (2026): e70321, https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.70321.


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