Health Update

by Tyrone M. Reyes, M.D.

A doctor friend of mine recently had a consult with an older woman who was taking 26 medications. She was under the care of a family physician, a rheumatologist, a cardiologist, and a psychiatrist and none of them were aware of what the others were prescribing. To make matters worse, a recent visit to an emergency room for nausea added an antibiotic to the woman’s list of drugs. She didn’t need the antibiotic. Her nausea was being caused by digoxin, a drug prescribed by her cardiologist to control her heart rate but which can also bring gastrointestinal distress. Once the woman’s blood digoxin level was brought under control (she was taken off for a short while), her nausea subsided.

The antibiotic wasn’t the only drug the woman didn’t need. After reviewing all of his patient’s 26 medications, my doctor friend, using the Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults, was able to cut the number of drugs she was taking almost in half. Her particular case is extreme, but it’s illustrative of a broader phenomenon that needs more attention: People older than 65 may make up only about 15 percent of the population, but they consume 30 percent of all prescription drugs. In fact, many older adults take an average of three to five medications, and that doesn’t include over-the-counter products such as pain relievers, vitamin supplements, and herbs. (more…)