Highlighting Drug Industry Influence, Watchdog Says Overmedication in Nursing Homes Is Troubling

Nursing homes are unnecessarily administering powerful antipsychotic drugs to many elderly residents, including residents with dementia [1] , according to a new report by the Health and Human Services inspector general. The Food and Drug Administration in 2005 mandated that drug makers issue warning labels [2] on atypical antipsychotics, noting that the drugs–which are generally FDA-approved for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder–increase the risk of death for elderly patients with dementia. Yet when the government examined 1.4 million Medicare claims from 2007 for atypical antipsychotics for elderly nursing home residents, the government found that 88 percent of the time, the drugs were prescribed to individuals diagnosed with dementia

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Highlighting Drug Industry Influence, Watchdog Says Overmedication in Nursing Homes Is Troubling