Excerpts:
Doctors in the United States routinely prescribe potentially harmful drugs to older patients, and the problem is particularly acute in the South, a new study shows.
The analysis found that more than one in five seniors on Medicare in the South were prescribed medications that health authorities have specifically advised doctors to avoid giving to older patients because of their severe side effects. Compared with people 65 and older living in New England, those living in the southern region from Texas to South Carolina were about 12 percent more likely to be prescribed a high-risk medication.
“We can’t specifically identify the reason the southern states have these rates that are so much higher,” said Dr. Amal Trivedi, an author of the study and an assistant professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School. “But I think it’s important for physicians and patients to be aware of it.”
Dr. Trivedi and his colleagues published their findings in the latest issue of The Journal of General Internal Medicine. For the study, they referred to a list of 110 drugs to avoid in the elderly, compiled by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Many of the drugs are widely used, often with few or moderate side effects in younger patients, but their risks are magnified in the elderly.
On the list are anti-anxiety medications like Valium.
Read the Full Article Here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/older-patients-too-often-prescribed-risky-drugs/
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