Efforts mount to cut improper use of antipsychotics for seniors

Excerpt from Bradenton Herald: (click for entire article)

A prescription for the wrong medicine, or too much of the right one, can cause dullness, danger or even death for older people.

That's the word from a growing group of family members, as well as medical, government and nonprofit groups working on medication issues involving older patients nationally.

Many people who have placed older relatives in long-term care tell the same story: a frail but communicative person goes into a facility and within a day or so their normal demeanor has changed so drastically as to be unrecognizable. Experts on aging, as well as government and business leaders, attribute such changes to widespread use of behavior-modifying medications, including strong antipsychotics such as Zypresa.