Article: Report Sounds Alarm on Medication Overload Among Older Americans
Next Avenue has published an article, "Report Sounds Alarm on Medication Overload Among Older Americans."
The article discusses medication overload and a recent report by The Lown Institute, "Medication Overload: America’s Other Drug Problem."
"Medication overload is an unseen epidemic that could result in 74 million outpatient visits, 4.6 million hospitalizations and 150,000 premature deaths among older Americans, costing our health system $62 billion, according to report author Shannon Brownlee, a Lown senior vice president."
"This report makes it clear we need to get on this; we need to be thinking about the high-risk medications that we already know are so deleterious to older people,” said Terry Fulmer, president of The John A. Hartford Foundation.
In addition to highlighting the problems that polypharmacy can cause for older adults, the article discusses approaches to addressing the issue.
The article originally appeared in the Association of Health Care Journalists' Covering Health.
To read the article, click here.
To read The Lown Institute report, click here.