Many
nursing homes are typically using anti-psychotic drugs in residents who display
agitation and combative behavior, but who should not be administered the
powerful sedatives, a Boston Globe report based on government data has found.
By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY |
The Globe
based an investigation on data received 19 months after it filed a Freedom of
Information Act request with the U.S. government.
At one
nursing home, the Ledgewood Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in
Beverly, Mass., the Globe found that 19% of residents who did not have a
diagnosis for which the drugs are recommended were receiving them. The danger
is that such patients are exposed to powerful side effects, the Globe reports.
The drugs can leave people in a stupor, according to the Globe.
The Food
and Drug Administration says that anti-psychotic drugs can cause dizziness,
sudden drop in blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm, blurred vision and
urinary problems in people with dementia, the Globe reports.
At more
than one in five U.S. nursing homes, anti-psychotic drugs are administered to
people who do not have a condition that warrants their use, the Globe reports.
The news
organization found that in 2010, about 185,000 nursing home residents in the
United States received such drugs, although the administration of the drugs
went against recommendations of federal nursing home regulators, the Globe
reports. Many of the patients were suffering from Alzheimer's or some other
ailment related to dementia. The drugs are normally intended for people
suffering from schizophrenia, according to the Globe.
One medical
school professor told the Globe that the use of the drugs raises questions.
"We
have an inordinate amount of prescriptions written for a population that is
already frail, and we know these drugs increase the risk for side effects,
including death," Michael Gloth, an associate professor at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, specializing in seniors, told the Globe. "So
why are they being written?"
Members of
the nursing home industry, however, told the Globe the drugs are sometimes
necessary to keep people from hurting themselves and/or others.
Frank
Grosso, vice president of pharmacy services at Genesis Health Care, owner of
more than 200 nursing homes, told the news organization that sometimes patients
are given lower doses than someone with a psychosis and the data do not reflect
that.
"There
are things out there the industry can do better, there is no question about
that, but there are good things in the industry that are not seen because of
these issues with the statistical data," Grosso told the Globe.
Related Article:
"The Recalibration of 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - Text version)
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