Reported by AARP
Jan 1, 2023
Assisted Care
Eight in 10 nursing home residents on Medicare were prescribed psychiatric drugs during a recent nine-year period, a government report found. That's roughly a million residents per year.
The report, released in November by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, suggests that yearslong efforts are failing to curtail overuse of psychiatric drugs in America's nursing homes.
The drugs, known as psychotropics, have long been criticized by nursing home resident advocates and lawmakers as "chemical straitjackets" used to sedate unruly patients, particularly those with dementia. They include antianxiety agents, antidepressants, antipsychotics and other drugs that affect brain activity and behavior.
From 2011 to 2019, about 80 percent of long-stay Medicare residents nationwide - those in a nursing home for 101 consecutive days or longer - were prescribed some type of psychotropic drug, according to the report.
"We are deeply concerned for the residents that continue to face the inappropriate and dangerous use of these drugs," said Kelly Bagby, vice president of litigation at AARP Foundation, which has sued nursing homes for incorrectly administering psychotropic drugs.
The use of psychotropic drugs in older adults comes with serious risks. Antipsychotics can increase mortality risk in patients treated for dementia-related psychosis. Some anticonvulsant medications can cause life-threatening reactions, including liver failure and increase risk of suicide. And antidepressants can make older adults more vulnerable to headaches, gastrointestinal issues, cognitive impairment and falls.