Study: Seniors Get Wrong Drugs

Dr. Emily Senay Talks About New Research

(CBS)  A warning for senior citizens who take prescription drugs: A new study, published by the Archives for Internal Medicine, finds that inappropriate drug prescription for people over 65 is still a major problem, with potentially deadly consequences. Medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay reports for The Early Show.

In the study, researchers looked, over a yearlong period, at nearly 750,000 prescriptions given to people over the age of 65. They looked to see what, how many and how often prescriptions were given to people over 65 that were deemed "of concern" or "inappropriate."

As Senay reports, "They found something a little alarming." A total of 27 percent of the time, people filled prescriptions with one or more drugs of concern. When you look at the total number, that's 160,000 inappropriate medications given out to these older people, or looking at it another way, 1 in 5 were given a drug (or possibly more than one drug) that
was not right for them, that could cause harm, or give rise to some sort of serious side effect.

"We're talking about classes of drugs or particular drugs," Senay explains. "They identified 28 that were 'of concern.' Broadly, these include anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, and pain relievers. They also found that sedatives and antihistamines can cause problems in older people. These medications need to be given with caution and, in some cases, not at all."

Why are those drugs inappropriate for people over 65?

"As we get older, our bodies change," says Senay. "We don't metabolize drugs as well as when we're younger. What happens is, as one example, if you consider that it might change a person's ability to think clearly: it might make them confused. It might make them dizzy.

"If it's an older person who is dizzy and experiences a fall and fractures something, you can see it's a domino principle," she continues. "What is a minor side effect can wind up being a major medical problem for a person who is older."

So why is this happening and how can we prevent it from happening? How can we get around the problem?

According to Senay, the authors of the study say doctors need to be more careful about prescribing for people in this age group. But perhaps more is needed. "Maybe," reports Senay, "we need to look at computerized ways to prevent this sort of thing from happening. Bringing the pharmacist in and making sure that the pharmacist is involved and preventing this type of problem from happening so that when people go to fill a prescription, a red flag is raised."

It's a good idea to ask questions when your doctor prescribes a medication for you, which sometimes is difficult for an older patient to do. But you can certainly ask something like, "Is this prescription right for me? I'm an older person. What sort of side effect am I going to experience?"

Senay also suggests that, when you go to the pharmacy, you try to get a few moments of the pharmacist's time and, again, go over what the medications are, what the potential side effects are.

"Know what you're taking," she advises. "Have a very thorough list of what the doctor wants you to take. You have to be…the last stop and make sure it's right for you."