High-Alert Medications

High-Alert (High-Risk) Drugs

Drugs with a high likelihood of causing serious harm, especially when used improperly. Typically, each institution will compile a list of medications that they consider to be in the high risk category. As a result, the medications that are considered high-risk may vary from one institution to another. Drugs from the following classes usually end up on an institution's high-alert medication list.

Insulin (Humulin R, Novolin R, Humalog, NovoLog, Apidra)

Insulin functions to decrease blood sugar by increasing cellular utilization of glucose in patients with diabetes, but too much insulin can cause hypoglycemia, which can be fatal.

Opioids (morphine, hydromorphone, fentanyl, meperidine)

These are used to treat pain, but they can cause potentially fatal respiratory suppression at high doses.

Neuromuscular blockers (rocuconium, succinylcholine, pancuronium)

These drugs are commonly used to stop breathing to allow for mechanical ventilation. These are usually considered to be high-risk because they cease breathing.

Anticoagulants (e.g. heparin, warfarin, enoxaparin)

These drugs are used in the treatment and prevention of blood clots, but they can cause potentially fatal bleeding if too much is administered to the patient.