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Surveillance of adverse drug events associated with tocilizumab in hospitalized veterans with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to inform patient safety and pandemic preparedness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2021

Rupak Datta*
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Prevention Program, Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
Alexis Barrett
Affiliation:
VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services and Center for Medication Safety, Hines VA, Hines, Illinois
Muriel Burk
Affiliation:
VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services and Center for Medication Safety, Hines VA, Hines, Illinois
Cedric Salone
Affiliation:
VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services and Center for Medication Safety, Hines VA, Hines, Illinois
Anthony Au
Affiliation:
VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services and Center for Medication Safety, Hines VA, Hines, Illinois
Francesca Cunningham
Affiliation:
VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services and Center for Medication Safety, Hines VA, Hines, Illinois
Ann Fisher
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Prevention Program, Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
Louise Marie Dembry
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Prevention Program, Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut
Kathleen M. Akgün
Affiliation:
Pain Research, Informatics, Multimorbidities, and Education Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut Department of Medicine, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
*
Author for correspondence: Rupak Datta, E-mail: rupak.datta@yale.edu

Abstract

We evaluated adverse drug events (ADEs) by chart review in a random national sample of 428 veterans with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who received tocilizumab (n = 173 of 428). ADEs (median time, 5 days) occurred in 51 of 173 (29%) and included hepatoxicity (n = 29) and infection (n = 13). Concomitant medication discontinuation occurred in 22% of ADE patients; mortality was 39%.

Type
Concise Communication
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

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