US regulators fight inappropriate medicating
Posted
by DPS
The Boston Globe reports that state regulators and the Massachusetts nursing home industry have launched a campaign to reduce the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications for residents with dementia – a practice that endangers lives and is more common here than in other states.
During the next year, a team of specialists will identify nursing homes with successful methods for avoiding overuse of antipsychotics and determine which homes need help cutting back.
In 2009, 22% of Massachusetts nursing home residents who received antipsychotic medications did not have a diagnosis for which the drugs were recommended – the 12th highest rate of inappropriate antipsychotic use in the United States.
