OBJECTIVES: Despite well-known benefits of pharmacotherapy to treat Parkinson disease (PD), conventional interventions may increase an individual’s risk of severe and sometimes life-threatening adverse outcomes. Our primary objective was to examine the risk of cardiovascular events, including acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, hypotension, and valvulopathy, among hospitalized individuals who received pharmacotherapy for PD. We hypothesized that individuals treated with non-ergot dopamine agonists (DAs) would be more likely to be diagnosed with cardiovascular events. We also examined the risk of cerebrovascular events (cerebrovascular accident and ischemic stroke) and the risk of adverse events among non-ergot DA only users. METHODS: Retrospective study of 14,122 inpatients identified from the Cerner Health Facts® database between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012 who received pharmacological treatment for PD. Controls were matched to cases on age, race, and sex. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to estimate associations between non-ergot DA exposure and the risk of adverse events. Risk estimates were calculated as odd ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Inpatients were primarily Caucasian (91.2%), men (54.0%), and 80 years of age or older (47.4%) at admission. The majority of patients were levodopa users (87.2%) and antiparkinson monotherapy was common (71.7%). Relative to levodopa monotherapy, an increased risk of heart failure was observed with non-ergot DA (OR 1.22, CI 1.02-1.50, p = 0.04) and pramipexole monotherapy (OR 1.29, CI 1.00-1.66, p = 0.05). No risk of other cardiovascular events or cerebrovascular events was identified. CONCLUSIONS: Treating PD provides substantial benefits to function, mobility, and survival. It is important to treat PD; therefore, knowledge of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risks associated with pharmacotherapies is essential to informing treatment decisions.