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   GAO Report Urges Fewer Antipsychotic Drugs For Dementia Patients   
      
   MARCH 02, 2015 4:15 PM ET   
   Ina Jaffe   
      
      
   Listen to the Story   
      
   All Things Considered 1 min 52 sec   
   About 1 in 3 patients with dementia who live in nursing homes are being   
   sedated with antipsychotic drugs, the GAO says. Outside nursing homes, about 1   
   in 7 dementia patients are getting the risky drugs.   
   About 1 in 3 patients with dementia who live in nursing homes are being   
   sedated with antipsychotic drugs, the GAO says. Outside nursing homes, about 1   
   in 7 dementia patients are getting the risky drugs.   
   Wladimir Bulgar/iStockphoto   
   Older adults with Alzheimer's Disease or other forms of dementia are at risk   
   of being prescribed dangerous antipsychotic medication whether they live in   
   nursing homes or not. That's according to a study from the Government   
   Accountability Office published    
   Monday.   
      
   "They blunt behaviors. They can cause sedation. It increases a patient's risk   
   for falls. And, if you just want to get to the very basic bottom line, why   
   should someone pay for something that's not needed?"   
   - Bradley Williams, geriatric pharmacist, University of Southern California   
   The chance of a person with dementia receiving antipsychotic drugs in a   
   nursing home is about 1 in 3, according to the report. For dementia patients   
   who aren't in nursing homes -- those living with family, for example, or in   
   assisted living -- the chance    
   of being prescribed an antipsychotic is about 1 in 7.   
      
   These drugs are used to control the challenging behaviors that sometimes go   
   along with Alzheimer's, but they are not approved by the Food and Drug   
   Administration for that use. In fact the FDA has slapped these drugs with a   
   strong warning, saying they can    
   increase the chance of death for older adults with dementia.   
      
   "They blunt behaviors. They can cause sedation. It increases [a patient's]   
   risk for falls," says Bradley Williams, a geriatric pharmacist who teaches   
   pharmacy and gerontology at the University of Southern California. He says   
   antipsychotics should be    
   given to dementia patients for as brief a time as possible, and only if they   
   have certain extreme symptoms, that have not responded to other therapies.   
   That's not the majority of patients.   
      
   "And, if you just want to get to the very basic bottom line," he says, "why   
   should someone pay for something that's not needed?"   
      
   Antipsychotic drugs aren't necessary in the vast majority of dementia cases,   
   gerontologists say. The pills can be stupefying and greatly raise the risk of   
   falls -- and hip fracture.   
   SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS   
   Old And Overmedicated: The Real Drug Problem In Nursing Homes   
   Federal prosecutors allege two nursing homes in California have "persistently   
   and severely overmedicated elderly and vulnerable residents." Antipsychotic   
   drugs like risperidone, also known as Risperdal, can be dangerous for elderly   
   people, but are    
   frequently prescribed to nursing home patients.   
   SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS   
   Feds Hope Hitting Nursing Homes In The Wallet Will Cut Overmedication   
   It's Medicare that's usually paying for the drugs - such as Risperdal,   
   Seroquel or Zyprexa. The medicines are approved by the Food and Drug   
   Administration to treat symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but   
   not symptoms of dementia.   
      
   Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) called the report troubling. She's the chair of   
   the Senate's Special Committee on Aging, and one of the senators who asked the   
   GAO to look into the matter.   
      
   "The report," Collins says, "raises many red flags concerning the potential   
   misuse and excessive use of antipsychotic drugs for patients with Alzheimer's   
   and other dementias who are living in nursing homes." In a written statement   
   she noted that the    
   report found that "factors unrelated to the patient -- such as low staffing   
   levels -- contributed to the overprescribing of antipsychotic medications."   
      
   In 2012, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched a   
   campaign to reduce the use of these drugs in nursing homes. In fact, usage in   
   those institutions is declining. The GAO report says the government needs to   
   put the same effort into    
   curbing the use of antipsychotics among patients with dementia who reside in   
   assisted living centers or with their families.   
      
      
      
   http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/02/390245017/gao-report-   
   rges-fewer-antipyschotic-drugs-for-dementia-patients   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)