“Nearly 75% of older Americans with dementia given drugs that don’t help them despite serious risks: Study,” by Mihika Basu, MEAAW News

Quote:

“Close to three-quarters of older adults with dementia have filled prescriptions for medicines that act on their brain and nervous system, but are not designed for dementia, according to researchers. This is despite the special risks that such drugs carry for older adults, and the lack of evidence that they actually ease the dementia-related behavior problems that often prompt a doctor’s prescription in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, they argue. Some of the drugs have also been linked to worse cognitive symptoms in old adults, warns the research team from the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania School for Social Policy and Practice.”

 

 

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

Whatever happened to the dictum “first, do no harm?”