The federal government says it will begin a targeted crackdown on nursing homes’ abuse of antipsychotic drugs and misdiagnosis of schizophrenia in patients. A watchdog group says it’s a problem that happens in the St. Louis.
Marjorie Moore, the executive director of VOYCE, an advocacy group for nursing home residents, tells KMOX that in Missouri about 28% of all nursing home residents say that at some point in their stay, they received some sort of psychotropic or antipsychotic drug.
“What we see is, in the general population only 1% of people actually really need these drugs,” Moore said. “So it's overwhelming to think about the number of people who are getting these that shouldn't be.”
The drugs are used to treat schizophrenia, which affects about 1% of people in the general population. But in nursing homes, around 6% of people are diagnosed with schizophrenia, despite the fact that it’s very rare to be diagnosed with the disorder as an elder.
“So these numbers aren't really lining up with what's happening medically,” Moore said.
It’s a dangerous problem that nursing home residents are facing. According to Moore, sometimes people with dementia are given these drugs to calm them down — but many of the drugs have a label saying that they’re very dangerous to people with dementia, and can even kill them.
She said there are things family members can do to ensure that their loved ones aren’t being misdiagnosed or given drugs they don’t need. Often, family members who are guardians or have power of attorney should be notified of the prescriptions that are being prescribed. But Moore pointed out that sometimes things slip through the cracks.
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“Family members really need to be paying attention to their loved ones who live in nursing homes to see if there's a big change in behavior,” she explained. “If your loved one goes from being a chatterbox, talking all the time, to all of a sudden not being able to talk, that might be a sign —look and see, are they sleeping a lot more than they used to, things like that. And then you can ask to see their medical charts and see if they're being prescribed these drugs.”
In 2012, a similar investigation was launched and rates of prescription for antipsychotic drugs dropped across the country.
Hear more about the issue of inappropriate prescription drug use in nursing homes, and what you can do if you suspect a loved one might be in this situation:
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