Nursing Homes Continue to Use Inappropriate Anti-Psychotic Drugs
According to the Boston Globe’s recent analysis, about 2,500 nursing home residents in Massachusetts were given powerful antipsychotic drugs last year that were not appropriate for their medical condition. In many cases, the medications were given due to the lack of behavior management techniques, experience or manpower in nursing homes to handle agitated patients.
This trend of increased antipsychotic drug use is very worrisome because a large number of nursing home residents suffer from dementia. Dementia patients taking antipsychotic drugs, also known as psychotropic drugs, have an increased risk of death. Psychotropic drugs are intended to treat patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Officials in the Massachusetts Senior Care Association state that the state’s rank of frequency of use of psychotropic drugs, 12th in the nation, points to a need for more training in nursing homes. As Robert Stern, an Alzheimer’s specialist and brain research at Boston University School of Medicine states, “Way too many patients in nursing homes are treated with antipsychotics purely to sedate them or to control behaviors that are difficult for the staff.”
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