When we move our loved ones into nursing homes, our support and the support of other friends and family is very important. This is especially true when our loved ones have dementia and can't make adequate decisions for themselves.
It is important for families providing elder care or placing loved ones in a nursing home to ask questions.
The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services reported that elderly patients are often given anti-psychotic drugs that violate government standards, are not accepted for medicare coverage and/or are not approved by the FDA. This really shows how important it is for families and friends to watch closely and ask questions as to which medications are being prescribed to our loved ones.
Pharmaceutical Companies Improperly Promoting Drugs concerns Boston Elder law attorneys at Cohen and Oalican
The FDA puts what is known as a “black box warning” on these anti-psychotic drugs stating that there is a higher risk of death when they are taken by elderly people with dementia. And yet, 88% of the time these drugs were prescribed in ways that violate government standards, they were prescribed to elderly people with dementia.
Lawsuits and settlements suggest that several pharmaceutical companies have improperly promoted these anti-psychotic drugs to nursing homes.
Drugs prescribed violate government standards; Medicaid law
These drugs known as “atypical” anti-psychotics were found to be used by over 305,000 nursing home residents. One in five that were prescribed these drugs were found to be prescribed in a way that violated government standards. Also, more than half of the drugs that were covered by Medicare should not have been covered.
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