Personal Injury Blog

Nursing Home Patients at Risk from Increased Use of Antipsychotic Medications

December 7th, 2011
Use of Antipsychotic Medications

Antipsychotic drugs are used to control symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, including hallucinations and delusions

A growing number of senior citizens in nursing home facilities around the country are at risk from the increased use of antipsychotic medications that they may not need.  In spite of government warnings against inappropriate and unadvised use of antipsychotic medications in senior citizens, the practice seems to be continuing unchecked.

Last week, government inspectors from the US Department of Health And Human Services told lawmakers that Medicare officials should be doing more to make sure that nursing home facilities do not make excessive use of antipsychotic medications in senior citizens.  These antipsychotic drugs are used to control symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, including hallucinations and delusions.  However, a number of nursing home facilities use these drugs to control symptoms of dementia in elderly patients.  Thousands of patients around the country suffering from dementia are being given antipsychotic medications that they don’t need, and which may have harmful health effects.

The US Department of Health And Human Services inspectors told the Senate Committee on Aging that the Medicare program should take action against nursing homes that make indiscriminate use of antipsychotic medications in senior citizens.  Medicare should penalize nursing homes that prescribe antipsychotic medications inappropriately.  The Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General also believes that Medicare needs to force nursing homes to pay for antipsychotic drugs that are prescribed inappropriately.  Also, nursing homes that do not use antipsychotic drugs appropriately must be potentially barred from Medicare.

According to studies conducted by the Inspector General’s Office, approximately 50% of Medicare claims for antipsychotic medications involve senior citizens with dementia.  One study found that over a six-month period, 40% of all senior citizens in nursing homes were being prescribed antipsychotic drugs, comprising a total of 305,000 patients at these nursing homes.

Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture antipsychotic medications like after AstraZeneca (Seroquel) and Eli Lilly (Zyprexa) mention on the labeling of the product that these medications must not be used for the treatment of symptoms of dementia.  However, Los Angeles product liability lawyers are aware that these companies have been known to promote the use of these medications for the treatment of dementia.  AstraZeneca has already paid $600 million to settle with federal and state prosecutors over its promotion of the off-label uses of Seroquel for the treatment of dementia.  Eli Lilly has also settled charges of off label promotion of Zyprexa by paying $1.4 billion.

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