and pretty much everywhere else, right?
Most doctors consider dementia and Alzheimer’s patients as a lost cause. Medicate and forget about them, let the nursing homes collect their SS checks.
Doctors are not omnipotent. The family has responsibilities to describe to the doctor what the patient was like before and after the medication, and what effects the medication seems to be having. The doctor only sees the patient for a short time, often months apart, and cannot always see what is happening.
Over-medication should be the FIRST suspect for dementia or aberrant behavior in ANY person of ANY age receiving prescription medications. Unfortunately, even the title of this article attempts to cloud the issue; it seems to imply that medications are being overused in TREATING dementia, when in fact the medications themselves are CAUSING the dementia.
I am appalled at the number of drugs some of our youngest and oldest citizens are prescribed - many of which are prescribed to treat a side effect from yet another drug. Only aggressive advocacy and intervention from family members will save most of the victims of over-medication, and unfortunately, most family members are unable, afraid or too trusting to question prescription after prescription for their loved ones. This dooms the recipient of these unnecessary meds to an vicious cycle of side effects and new meds...