 |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
 Are senior citizens being overmedicated?Strong, antipsychotic drugs are being prescribed more often to senior citizens in U.S. nursing homes, setting off a debate about whether it's the right treatment for the elderly suffering from dementia. Daniel Levinson, inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, believes this increase - detailed in a recent study by his office - is a cause for alarm. "The report found that too often, elderly residents are prescribed antipsychotic drugs in ways that violate government standards for unnecessary drug use," he wrote in a commentary for CNN.com.
Psychiatrist Daniel Carlat disagrees, saying the study Levinson cites is a "blizzard of statistics" that doesn't tell the entire story. "When these drugs are successful, they soothe the inner turmoil that makes life intolerable for these patients, improving their quality of life dramatically," Carlat wrote in his commentary for CNN.com. The conflicting guidance is making it even more difficult for those trying to make sure their aging loved ones are getting the best care during the final years of their lives. Laura Steckler, a Florida resident, recently sought treatment for her elderly mother after she suffered an episode of paranoia and hallucinations. She tells CNN how she found herself in the middle of the debate over how much is too much medication for the elderly:
Next entry »Always controversial, Kevorkian dead at 83
« Previous entryWhat the Yuck: My breasts hurt after a workout
|
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love. Recent Comments
 |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
© 2010 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Contact us | Help | Advertising Practices
i have no problem cutting down the amount and types of meds i write for my patients. i just have the families sign off on the liability. the reason so many people are on so many drugs is cuz if we don`t treat the symptoms, the family ends up suing you.get rid off the lawsuits and you will find less meds being prescribed.no one has mentioned that and that is the biggest reason why so many drugs are written for. so don`t just thing its about the money for the docs or drug compnaies.
My father is a classic example of being over-medicated, with no effort by his doctor to do anything to get him to control his symptoms on his own. His doctor wrote him prescriptions for countless problems that could have been controlled by changed in his diet and lifestyle. Medication should be the last option, not the first. But with no incentive to tell people "you need to eat right", and every incentive to have him on diabetes (Type II, weight related), high cholesterol (he ate a boat load of horrible foods), high blood pressure, etc. meds, he was pretty doped up.
All his doctor seemed to focus on was that his blood work was okay. If I could have sued his doctor for gross negligence I would have. Medication should be the last resort, not the first. With him it was the first solution and it very likely is why he died.
The biggest reasons so many scripts are written is because the average physician only spends several minutes with each patient. It's a lot easier to just write the script rather than spend time on patient education. I have seen patients turn from demanding what they saw advertised on TV the prior evening to thanking the provider who took the time to explain why a particular medication wasn't indicated. Always easier to blame someone else.
Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs by Melody Peterson. A must read!
As someone who has obviously taken medical ethics & jurisprudence courses, you surely learned that "signing off" of liability doesn't hold up in court.
As a primary care physician, I can assure you most of the meds I Rx are to compensate for poor lifestyle choices. Who is really to blame for that? Patients come in expecting an easy fix with a pill. I constantly preach healthy life choices, but the vast majority don't follow that advice. Eating right, exercising, keeping your weight down, and not smoking are common sense choices. Do you really need a physician to tell you that? It's not rocket science folks. From the 300 pounder with arthritic knee pain to the COPD'er who keeps on smoking, you can help fix yourself or not, but lets be careful where we put the blame.
Do you really expect anyone to believe your a doctor when the name you choose on these comments is "Ben Dover". Very cute
So Ben, you just admitted that you're prescribing the drugs for patients, not because they actually need them, but so you won't get sued. That's really sad on you're part.
You know, some medications can be very good for you. Statin drugs, for instance, have greatly lengthened lifespans. Inhaled steroids keep asthma sufferers alive from a CHRONIC, LIFELONG disease, that gets very little attention despite it being one of the most common childhood ailments.
However, you also have a lot of irresponsible people out there. Every time mommy and daddy can't deal with Johnny anymore, we'll just go get him some Abilify. Aww, is that not working? Well, here's some Dextroamphetamine. Your pinky hurts? Here's some oxycodone. That not working, well, we'll just get you some tablet morphine.
It seems to me that most people do alright with just a few meds, quite a bit of exercise, and good eating habits. How about instead of complaining when you hurt a little bit, instead of complaining when your kid's a little brat, why don't you look at the lifestyle choices, and only a patient can change those.
You're a doctor? You need to go back to school and take a basic skills class that covers punctuation and spelling.
There are cases where this is happening in nursing homes more so than in hospitals but it happens their also. They look to minimize the issues and medicating the patients are one way to that.
On the other hand, what is the alternative? With healthcare cost reduction and the demand to treat more patients, the time spent on care has to be maximized. If care providers are spending all their time dealing with patient emotional and mental issues, they will not get their job done of delivering medical care to treat physical aliments.
My dad is 82 he takes a blood pressure pill, clonadine & a baby aspirin every day. I think that's a reasonable amount. He is already difficult to deal with & if he didn't have the clonadine he would be impossible. If he ever has to go live in a home they will definitely try to medicate him more because that's his personality, combative, aggressive & angry. He's always been this way.
Your dad sounds like a great man who knows who he is and what he likes, and is taking age as well as he can. Three pills is nothing at his age.
When a daughter describes her dad by saying "He is already difficult to deal with & if he didn't have the clonadine he would be impossible...that's his personality, combative, aggressive & angry", I fail to see how anyone else could describe him as "sounds like a great man who knows who he is and what he likes".
Frankly, he sounds like a very frustrated, unhappy man with emotional issues, so I feel badly for both for him and his daughter.
Totally...
We are not only over medicating our seniors, but the whole country is overly medicated. Poly-pharmarcy is a huge problem and doctors and pharmacists knew it. I worked in pharm sector and that was and is continue to be their marketing strategy. Many clinical trials, if legit and well designed, are done in countries that have less drug use, reason...avoid drug to drug interactions that may skew the study...Drug-naive country. Just watch each medication and question the necessity of it.
The nation is over medicated. We live in a culture that every symptoms/behavior have an medical diagnosis. there is a diagnosis and there is a pill. I see people taking sleeping pill to go to bed, and waking up pill in the morning.
Yes my Mother take to much and she dont like it.
Then, if you don't already have power of attorney for medical decisions, get it...and then tell the doctor to take her off all but the most necessary meds...and that includes taking her off meds whose sole purpose is to 'prolong her life'. If she's not living independently, then those meds are simply prolonging her dying, and that's cruel.
That's what I did for my 92 year old mom, who now only has her pain and anxiety managed.
Often times elderly with dementia get to the point where no one can control them and their along with everyone elses safety is at stake. Its sad but over medicating to where patients are semi sedated is the only choice.
and she is 95 years young.
If you want to help the elderly to avoid becoming delusional and parinoid, just keep them away from tv news, newspapers, and preachers. Give them some quality entertainment instead to take up their time. I'm being serious here. Not trolling. I can see why they get so upset sitting and watching tv all day.
Sorry, but you just don't know what you're talking about. Do YOU have a parent living with you who has dementia? If not, then you REALLY, REALLY don't know what you're talking about.
LOL. Overmedicated is a gross understatement when describing Americans drug habits. I think some of the worst is giving children Meth to help ADD. The doctors aren't trying to help people. They are trying to make money.
I agree, after watching Fox news, ( Glenn Beck) I too would feel like the world is ending. My grand mother, who raised me, gets very depressed when she is surrounded by over emotional people. However, she is very content with happy stable people. Hence, I do think lifestyle choices and surroundings are the biggest factors for a persons well being, not the drugs people keep poping.
And, no one is giving kids meth for ADD, gingersrule.
For most people, a good senior is a quiet senior.
In the Soviet Union "anti-social" behavior – anything the boss didn't like – was considered a mental disease and people were dosed to keep them in line. I was in a rehab facility for nearly a year due to an injury and saw this first hand.
Doctors are out of control. I bet most Americans – at least those that can afford health care – are over-medicated.
Like school-aged children in the United States. Who are these parents that allow their children to be given psychotropic medications?
When they get to the point where they wear an oxygen canula and smoke at the same time, it's time for someone to control them by whatever means necessary so that they don't kill themselves or burn down the whole apartment complex.
Having worked in a nursing home and having had a good friend who suffered with dementia, I understand the need for drugs. I also believe some doctors over medicate. I have also seen the drug companies push their drugs. They offer doctors perks that I cannot believe. Day after day we see ads on television about drugs causing health issues and there is now a class action law suit. It has become a lot about money and not truly about our health. over all I think we have become an over medicated society. It has become easier for us to pop pills than change our life styles and try to be healthier.
Good point. This is like obese people who are advised, over and over, by their doctors to lose weight and don't. When resulting physical conditions arise they just take drugs. A doctor can only do so much. If I were an orthopedic doc I wouldn't even consider doing knee operations unless my overweight patient had lost the weight I recommended. I worked in a nursing home and 3/4 of the people with knee replacements were grossly overweight.
It's not only the seniors but, everyone in the U.S. There are more drugs pushed on TV than a gang street corner in LA. At a time in life when older people need assistance in living the drug pushing is an epidemic in nursing homes. I know first hand as it was a constant battle with personnel as they drugged my late mother out of her mind. Older people's kidneys and liver cannot metabolize all the drugs they cram down their throats......Lethargic and nodding out is the objective for a peaceful and tranquil nursing home wing.
Everyone is over medicateed in this country. The drug companies push their crap by giving out tons of samples to get you
hooked, by sending doctors on vacations, etc. Diet and lifestyle can cure most thihgs.
I work in a skilled nursing facility as a speech language pathologist and argument that we are over medicating seniors is a very fine line. I have seen both sides of this debate. On the rehab side I have seen patients that are way to drug up to do anything and they do not get any better with rehab because they are always asleep or so tired they can't work. Then I have seen people who won't take pain meds and that impacks there ability to get better because they are always in pain. Now on the demented side or neuro side I hate to say it but most of the medications are needed. If they didn't take all the meds they would be to aggressive, aggitated or cambative to be able to care for. If they didn't have the meds they would need to be in restrants which most people think is cruel. So this is a very difficult argument to make on either side. Unless you go through it you really don't know what it is like. Good luck with the powers to be to deside what is best?
I'm an SLP in a skilled nursing facility as well and completely agree with you. Most of the patients on these meds need medication for safety, not only theirs but for the other residents and the staff. The alternative is restraints, and for people with dementia, this is torture.
He makes some great points. But he is an educated speech pathologist. What is with all the spelling errors? Good grief! Try "impacts" not "impacks", try "agitated" not "aggitated", "combative" not "cambative". What gives here?
Eric, Your spelling is terrible...don't tell me it's typos, they are very common mistakes. Learn the difference between their, there, & they're & brush up on your skills.
I appreciate all the feedback on my spelling errors I never realized I was such a bad speller
. When I type I do so fast and usually like I’m talking and when I don’t have “word” to back me up I tend to spell poorly. My wife is trying to get me to read through stuff I write before I post but I really don’t care that much. These are just my thoughts take them as you will. If you can’t get through the spelling errors oh well I’ll live.
You get points for being employed and taking care of your family, Eric.
Thanks for the insight regarding your experiences with medicated patients. Some DO need their meds.
Considering that the topic of the article is NOT spelling, why do either of you care? Was it easier to complain about his spelling that to discuss the validity of his relevant points?
Curing the symptoms does not necessarily cure the disease.
No, but it gets you out of the physicians office quickly and makes BigPharma rich!
Most of the people in America get to the psychotic stages coz they have so much free time and they are left alone not knowing what to do, This makes their mind think unnecessary things and makes it more unstable.Just start to get to get together and have people around you or you get into places where there are people around, live with ur children or have ur children meet you more often...keep socialising .......have the ones you love around .... enjoy the nature get out the doors and walk around, hit the parks... have a life that is enjoyable to the heart .. and you would automatically get rid of most of these mental problems.
No offense, but psychosis is not caused by boredom.
You are so right!
the reasons i gave might not be the only ones ... but definately play a great role for the ultimate cause or depression and psychosis..... . We never usually live the life like I mentioned.... and so most of us don't even know how different it would/be.......A person stays alone for couple of years/months, and after a few years/months. is when he develops these problems....Its pretty obvious for the doctors & people to think that its something new that has started recently............. But who would think that this is the root cause of something else that has started a while back .... and these are its effects........ ..If you really don't believe me... try it....... Thats the best medication ever..... Happy hearts and a active loving life .......
Actually, Angela, you're confusing symptoms for causes. Yes, self-isolation can certainly AFFECT the person with the mental illness. And, yes, you're right to strongly encourage people to get out and about. But not getting out does not CAUSE clinical depression or psychosis.
Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs by Melody Peterson. A must read. It IS all about BigPharma and Physicians.
I work as a nurse in a nursing home. I have seen people have to take ridiculous amounts of medications. One woman takes over 30 medications on the first med pass of the day...and this is not all that uncommon, at least not in this facility. A big part of the problem is that we're dealing with a LOT of dementia patients who are screaming, hitting, kicking and scratching the nursing home staff and other residents and we don't have the staff to deal with them without chemically restraining them. Corporate healthcare is keeping facilities' staffing so low that we would be in a lot of danger without some of these medications...all to boost their profit margins. We have 2 choices: we need to either force more people to keep their dementia patients at home with their families, or make mandatory staffing ration laws.
Well said about corporate companies not staffing correctly. It's unbelievable but they're not the only ones at fault. State regulators aren't any better. Someone needs to step up staffing in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. It's a little better in skilled facilities but assisted living is horrible. I worked in one so I know first hand.
My mom never took more than asprin. She entered assisted living when she could no longer get around well. No dementia. Ultimately they had her on so many meds (including an antipsychotic to combat the side-effects of a previously prescribed drug) they had to send her to a hosptial for detox. 80 years old and she's in detox?! And she picked up an infection at the hospital. And I believe she was in a good place that cared. Giving a pill is too easy in our society.
How many doctors listen to the list of complaints and then tell their patients they wouldn't have high blood pressure, diabetes, need bilateral knee replacements, etc. if they weren't so fat and lazy? How many listen to the list of complaints, smile and pull out the script pad?
Unites States and New Zealand are the only developed countries that allow direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription pharmaceuticals.
Hmm, I didn't know that. Thanks!
we are seniors and have had a terrible time with the doctors and medications..i have saved my husband and myself as well as friends by questioning their med...not only seniors are over medicated but the whole world has been for a while. have discussed with family over sea..same problems...medical ethics are to be reviewed..thank you ..
In response to Julie in Austin, I work in a Family Medicine office and being the RN, I make dozens of phone calls daily to patients and most of them ARE about lifestyle changes. I give the same message from the doctors year after year after year to lose weight, exercise and to eat a healthier diet. We offer them written material to help, nutritional counseling and direct those who have access to the internet to helpful sites. Very few people are willing to change their habits but continue to complain about the high cost of meds and the need to take them. Many patients could drastically cut down on the number and types of medications that they take, if only they would follow the advice of their doctors. That being said, medications for dementia and depression do not fall under that category.
So very true. The patients do have a responsibility. There is an obesity epidemic in case others haven't noticed.. so we have this BMI patient 36 ( quite fat ) whose is on 3 blood pressure pills, 3 different meds for diabetes, awaiting knee replacement surgery (wear and tear) , who as a result of the obesity has sleep apnea and from that atrial fibrillation. He takes meds for that including coumadin. ALL this might be unnecessary if he weren't such a glutton. Oh he also takes Lipitor.
Yuri, That is absolutely unprofessional to spew personal information like that, even anonymously. Don't any of you think fat people would love to lose their weight???? But if they've gotten to the point where every step is painful, they're not going to move much, and pushing through it just leads to more pain and aggravated conditions that then, in YOUR world, no one should prescribe any pain medication to get through it and get their exercise. Most people also do eat healthy, they just eat too much. Not only that, you can't imagine the amount of people too stressed out from working 40+ hours at a $9/hr job trying to take care of children in a one parent family. Our entire society is dysfunctional. No one can even get a good night's sleep anymore with barking dogs, trains, trash trucks, sirens at all hours of the day and night. But, DON'T prescribe them any sleeping pills! Also, Where and How is anyone supposed to exercise outside when it snows 4 months of the year, rains another 2 months straight, then you have ozone and particulate matter making the air unhealthy to breathe during the other six months? I wonder, according to you, No one should prescribe asthma or allergy medication either. You ought to be thankful anyone goes to a doctor anymore, or you'd be out of a job.
Personally, I stay away from the doctors office as much as possible. I know one drug leads to two, and to three to cover the side effects of the first two. Eat better, get some movement, and like the other lady said, try to be a little social.. you will freak yourself out and into a depression if you're always alone and go nowhere. If you're not too far gone, you can make these changes. To people that are beyond the point of no return, I wish you mercy from judgmental idiots like YURI and a caring physician that understands when it is time to use medication and alternative therapies.
None of you should be making blanket statements about who needs what until it is YOU with the pain or disability.
Julia...did it not occur to you that Yuri could simply have been making up a composite? Or do you seriously think that Yuri's description only described one person in the entire country? There was no personal information revealed...nothing that could identify a particular person...just a list of typical symptoms. Yeesh.
Oh, and did you seriously not realize that the reason the obese "person" Yuri described needs a knee replacement is that he was obese BEFORE his knee went bad? And he didn't exercise BEFORE he had any pain? That the damaged knee was a RESULT of obesity?
And where on earth do you get the idea that most people do eat healthy? Multiple studies disagree with you. Even school lunch programs don't provide healthy meals. Sure, eating too much for, even if it's "healthy" food, is bad for you. But most people do NOT eat healthy meals.
Oh, and don't give us this utter malarky about how snow and rain keep people from exercising outside...or that exercise must be done outside...or that life is too exhausting to exercise. I worked on the second floor. There was an elevator right outside my office door. Because I wanted to get in a little better shape , I decided to take the stairs instead. After 5 years of going up and down a single flight of stairs 5-6 times a day, I'd lost 22 pounds! And my husband? At lunch time, he started walking the perimeter of the building where he worked. He's lost 15 pounds so far. So don't try to make up bogus excuses for not exercising. Most people don't exercise because they CHOOSE not to exercise. But wishful thinking will *not* make the excess weight go away.
(By the way, thanks to osteoarthritis, both my knees and my right hip have been replaced. But before I had them replaced, I *did* do the exercises THROUGH THE PAIN that my doctor recommended...because he said it would actually help reduce the pain. And it did.)
Kay, I'm so glad you did everything right before you had to have both knees and a hip replaced. I hope you collected your medal.
Main reasons:
1, constant expectation from patients to relieve each and every symptom. If one feels depressed for 3 days, one expects to be on Prozac and never feel sad again; if heartburn for two days after eating the wrong food – life long Prilosec.
2, Eight minutes of office visit time does not allow time to ask if previously started medicines are still needed. It is much easier to click mouse and send all prescriptions refills to pharmacy.
3, Third party payment. If patiens had to pay out of pocket at least 20% of cost, they would not demand so many meds for so many symptoms.
"If patien[t]s had to pay out of pocket at least 20% of cost, they would not demand so many meds for so many symptoms." And plenty of people who actually need a medication to live would probably die.
I believe Casey Anthony may be quilty and have believed her to be from the beginning in 2008 BUT she is not and has no chance of getting a fair trial. The Judge rules against her over 90% of the time.
We're overmedicating everyone in this society. Why would anyone even pose this question when the answer's right in front of our faces? Especially for a doctor to ask? You know you're overmedicating your patients.
Doctors know our patients are overmedicated. I help lots of patients feel better and be at less risk by taking away meds which are not needed or causing side effects. I also save lives I believe by not ordering unnecessary tests,avoiding unneeded risky procedures ets. For move info google estrogens Premarin. Two"villains" on my radar screen Fosamax and Aricept the latter a placebo for Altzheimer relatives.
I have worked in nursing homes for almost 20 years. We do over medicate, not just psychotics but all meds. We have the ability to extend life in duration but not quality. Patients but mostly families will take extreme measures to keep a chronicly ill person alive. The patients are in pain, have no quality, and die with zero dignity. End of life education is so under utilized to families, they really become selfish.
As the social worker at my 92 year old mom's nursing home pointed out to me, keeping her on most of the meds she was on was actually prolonging her dying, not her life. And, since she no longer had any quality of life, why would we want to do that. I had them take her off all but her pain and anxiety medications after that.
I am 79 year old NOT living in a nursing home yet. And I take 13 medications everyday. Some medications are taken twice a day, that makes 10 medications in the evening, and about 7 in the morning. (It doesn't include Vitamines) When I think of their side affects, it horrifies me. I have been taking some of these mnediactions for more than 11 years. What can I do?
They've gotten you from 68 to 79 and living independently, right? I'd keep taking them.
As a primary care physician, I can assure you most of the meds I Rx are to compensate for poor lifestyle choices. Who is really to blame for that? Patients come in expecting an easy fix with a pill. I constantly preach healthy life choices, but the vast majority don't follow that advice. Eating right, exercising, keeping your weight down, and not smoking are common sense choices. Do you really need a physician to tell you that? It's not rocket science folks. From the 300 pounder with arthritic knee pain to the COPD'er who keeps on smoking, you can help fix yourself or not, but lets be careful where we put the blame.
Unfortunately you are right. I have spoken to many patients throughout my internship about their disease and how lifestyle changes can make a positive impact in their life. Some patients really do care to know about nutrition and diet-disease relationships and others just simply do not care. There are those patients that do try to change their lifestyles and do reduce the number of medications that they are having to take; however, it seems as if a greater majority of patients prefer to not change anything. Many diseases that people have are preventable, yet some people seem to want a quick fix.
Studies are not needed to come up with this. Doctors do over medicate, but the people also want fast results to the problems. People think a pill or pills will solve the problem. Half the people is a nursing home are not even aware of what is going on, it is very sad. Way to many pills to everyone, every where.
President Obama's death panels will determine whether meds are needed for the old. Certain meds that only help a few old people can be criminalized. The money saved is needed to pay for free health care for others who aren't old and who have been victims of a health care system that favors the people who pay for it.
BobPlanet...do you really believe that? Amazing...
There have been no death panels created under the health care reform act. However, In 1999, Texas passed a bill which was signed by then-Gov. GW Bush that established a process that allowed hospital panels to discontinue life support measure for terminally ill patients without the consent, or even over the objections, of the parents or guardians. Perhaps that is the death panel you are talking about?
Even Glenn Beck pointed out there are no death panels in the law. Please stop believing everything Sarah Palin says, OK? Assuming you can even understand her half the time.
Unless you know the background of the patients, it's not fair to pass judgment whether this is good or not. I took care of my 92 year old mother for a number of years before she died, and the dementia was torturous for her. I was grateful for anything that reduced her suffering. Let the doctors decide. That's what they're for.
"Let the doctors decide. That's what they're for." No, not really. Each competent person should be collecting information and making decisions for him or herself.
I have felt for a long time that our society relies on prescription drugs way too much. The problem is, the people that tell us we need them are the same people that profit greatly from them. How many children are on drugs because they can't concentrate and are "hyper"active? How many seniors and war vets take 10+ pills a day? I'm sure some of these medications can and do help, but one thing seems to be forgotten here. The human body has an amazing ability to repair itself, if treated properly. Healthy lifestyles can solve many issues, but instead of taking responsibility for our own lives we instead ask a doctor to cover it up with drugs.
It doesn't help that people that watch cable television are bombarded with prescription drug commercials at every turn telling them that life can be perfect if you take our pills. It's a scam people, they make money by convincing you that you need their medication, even if you don't.
Agreed, it is all about the money, and wow is it a lot of money.
Medication of any kind is a license for complacency.
In my belief some seniors are over medicated and in the case of my senior mom, most definitely. I intervened on her care and took most to all prescription pain meds away. Strange thing happened, her pain went away with time. The pain meds freaked her out so much, minor pain became amplified.
The level of Medical care in America (USA) is a disgrace. I call for tort reform so America can begin to address its broken medical situation.
uumm......'we' are overmedicating EVERYONE....most notably, our children.
probably in general we're all overmedicated prescription and non
I often wonder how much of everyone's meds ends up in my tap water! Add the passively medicated to your list. I bet all the Premarin and HRT meds are what's making everyone fat.
We the people who need our medication will pay the price ! Why is it people that have never been sick a day in their life now want to stop us from getting medication that we need . All of you need to visit an old folks home sometime and see the elderly that are sitting alone in a nursing home . Wait until its you ! And fact is we are next in line ! Learn about the very medication that you want to take away from people . Go to places like web md dot com , epocrates dot com . Or just type the medication into a search engine . We all die some day . Do you really want to live in pain for your remaining years ? Get educated before you leep ! Better yet , go volunteer in an elder care home sometime ! Some peoples own families do not even go visit them ! In this country our motto is ! Out of sight , out of mind ! You are only a car wreck away from being disabled . t happened to me ! I bet you do not know your disc are degenerating ! Some of you are walking around with cancer . And you just dont know it yet ! Do yourself a favor . Go get a physical ! And even with a physical . You do not get an aids test . Aids does not care if you are man or woman . Young or old ! We all die !
You're so right. It's like Frankenstein's mob... a herd mentality.
We all know that Americans in general are very overmedicated, however the geriatric population are being severely overmedicated. They not only take on average 15 medications, however as a pharmacist when I sit down with a patient to counsel you find tons of duplicate medications that physcians from different specialties prescribe. Bottom line pharmacists are at the front lines and if the government allowed us more anonymity and reimbursement for our time, we could impact this health industry drastically. In the united states pharmacies are only second to restaurant in number.
I am very concerned by the UNDER-medication of our senior citizens. Distreaaingly many of them can still talk, move around, break wind audibly etc. Comatose in a dark room is the preferred option here, but we need Congressional funding. Comas for Codgers.
It's all about the money. Getting someone to eat right and become more active like walking around the block once in the morning and the evening doesn't make a dime for the drug companies. If it takes half an hour to walk around the block does a retired person really have trouble fitting it into their schedule, on the other hand filling a cup with water and popping a pill is the path of least resistance. Sure there are some meds that need to be prescribed but most health problems can be minimized through lifestyle changes rather than throwing the medicine cabinet at the problem.
Lets talk about the over-medication of most, if not all American sub-populations. We take more prescription drugs than any other country and are the sickest people of any industrialized society. People go to the doctor and demand a pill for every ill, then complain that medical costs are spiraling out of control and blame the MD's for over-prescribing. What a crock! I know, I work at a pain clinic!
Ever think some of those people at the pain clinic are there to be treated for real pain? LOL They have to go to a "pain clinic" because their typical family MD is too scared from the screaming public to prescribe pain meds. You shouldn't think EVERYONE is just trying to get high, for crying out loud.
What we have in america is not patient care. We have greedy care-taking care of pharmaceuticals with greedy doctors as henchmen. GOP is their ally in this regard. Also, get rid of all attorneys and bring cap on lawsuit compensations. We will be fine.
All Americans are are over-medicated, but those drug companies need to make a profit.
So what do you do with a person with dementia or Altz. who is violent – through no fault of their own? Dangerous to him/herself and others? Tie them down? Can't do. Medicate? Can't do. Wait for someone to be killed? That happened someplace in Canada where one patient pushed another in a nursing home. So what is the solution?
Happens more than you know in assisted living facilities memory care units. Then the person who pushes the other down and injures, or worse yet, kills them, isn't blamed because they have dementia. Familiies are getting wise and bringing lawsuits and winning. Headlines every day. As I said in an earlier post, if you have a loved one in one of these units and you witness another residents who is combative, agressive, etc. take your loved one to another facility.
Seniors aren't valued in this country. As soon as you reach 55, it's all downhill. Families get rid of "the problem" by putting you in a nursing home and heavily medicate until you die. Sad, but true.
Am reasonably comfortable (at 71) with letting nature take it's course...Pain is an issue which can be dealt with reasonably well but "cures"...not so necessary at this age...
It isn't just the elderly, we are over medicating EVERYONE! Every 5th child is on something for basically acting like a child. When you walk into any doctors office today what do you see on the walls? More advertisements for drugs than a bar has beer signs. Something wrong with that. The pharmaceutical companies are in the pockets of the FDA and insurance companies that feeding pills has become what is prescribed no matter what you go in and complain about.
I know people in their late 30s and 40s that just need to do some light exercise and stop eating garbage but the doctor won't even tell them to stop the fast food. They just keep giving them drugs to control the symptoms instead of changing their how they live to control or even fix them. No money in that.
I have a friend who at the time was about 24 and was being treated for depression. He wasn't getting what he wanted from the drugs so he just started running. Simple running. After a month he felt better and you could see in his eyes he had his confidence back and was off the drugs. When he told the doctor about this he said, "Yea that can work too." When he asked why it wasn't suggested the doctor said "I didn't think you would do it". He responded by saying "tell me my genitals where going to fall if I don't, that would motivate anyone."
When is enough enough? http://WWW.CDBABY.COM/ALL/NUMONE bye now!