Senate Amendment Filed to Fight Inappropriate Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes

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Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut filed an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration Safety...

Depression Linked to Dementia in Later Life

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A retrospective study of 13,535 long-term Kaiser Permanente members found that depressive symptoms in mid-life (1964-1973 for this cohort) were associated with a 20%...

AARP Joins Antipsychotic Lawsuit Against CA Nursing Home

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The AARP has joined an "unprecedented class-action lawsuit" against a California nursing home accused of using antipsychotics without informed consent from residents or family...

Nursing Homes Shift Tactics on Dementia

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As part of a series on the inappropriate use of antipsychotics in nursing homes, the Boston Globe explores alternative approaches, such as llama therapy,...

Fewer Antipsychotics, More Nurses Will Improve Care and Save Money in Nursing Homes

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The Center for Medicare Advocacy advised yesterday that nursing facilities could realize huge savings by eliminating "inappropriate and life-threatening" antipsychotic drugs. The statement added...

Do Benzos Deserve a Major Role in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders?

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Researchers at the University of Milan and King's College, London thoroughly reviewed the literature available on Medline and Cochrane regarding the use of benzodiazepines...

Federal Regulators Urge Cuts in Antipsychotics for Seniors

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An Office of the Inspector General report says that nearly nine out of 10 prescriptions for antipsychotics given to Medicare beneficiaries are for unapproved uses....

SSRIs Significantly Increase Falls in Dementia, Even at Low Doses

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Researchers in the Netherlands followed 248 nursing home residents with dementia for two years, finding that even 25% of the defined daily dose of...

Labels Initiates Core Social Support, Lose Peripheral Ties

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Article Abstract: Although research supports the stigma and labeling perspective, empirical evidence also indicates that a social safety net remains intact for those with mental...

Medical Conditions in the Elderly Often Misdiagnosed as Psychiatric

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27 (24%) of 112 geriatric patients admitted consecutively to an inpatient psychiatric unit had delirium from underlying medical conditions that was misdiagnosed as a psychiatric...

Antipsychotics Increase Risk of Heart Attack in the Elderly

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In a study of 10,969 older patients treated with antipsychotics in Quebec, Canada, researchers found a 2.19 times greater risk of heart attack in...

Arkansas’ $1.25 Billion Risperdal Trial Starts Today

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Arkansas' lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson for false and misleading claims regarding Risperdal is set to begin today, the fourth time J&J has a...

Rampant Prescription Errors in CA Nursing Homes

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Recent investigations by the California Department of Public Health found that in 18 of 31 nursing homes in San Francisco (plus one outside of...

Effort to Curb Antipsychotics for Dementia Announced

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is launching an initiative to curb the use of antipsychotic medications for nursing home residents with dementia....

$1 Billion J&J Settlement Rejected as Insufficient

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Federal prosecutors have rejected as insufficient the $1 billion settlement reached two months ago between Johnson & Johnson and prosecutors in Philadelphia to resolve...

Activity-Based Therapies Reduce Antipsychotic Use

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Researchers from the University of North Carolina found that activity-based therapy and care reduced the use of antipsychotics in a study of 107 people...

First Aid for Emotional Trauma

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Handout by Will Hall, offered on the Icarus Project website, on what emotional trauma is and how to work to heal it. Go to "First...

Humor As Effective As Medication in Treating Agitation in Dementia

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In "the first major study of the impact of humour therapy on mood, agitation, behavioural disturbances and social engagement in dementia," researchers in Australia...

No Evidence For Antidepressants in Depression With Dementia

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In a review and meta-analysis of double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomly-assigned trials of antidepressants marketed in the U.S., researchers at the University of California failed to...

Risk of Death in the Elderly Trebled With Antipsychotics

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In a nine-year study of all 2,224 residents of Leppävirta, Finland who were 65 years old or older, researchers found that the 332 residents...

Psychotropics Accelerate Cognitive and Functional Decline

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins, The Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Duke and others found in a study of 230 Alzheimer's patients tracked over four...

Antidepressant Use Associated with Brain Atrophy and Lesions in Elderly

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In a study of 630 elderly Manhattanites without dementia, researchers from the Netherlands found that antidepressant use was associated with significantly more brain atrophy,...

Antipsychotics for Dementia: Not Justified and Risky

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In a study of antipsychotics used to treat 75,445 patients in nursing homes in the United States, researchers from Harvard Medical School, Columbia and...

England Seeks to Stop Antipsychotics For Dementia

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English health minister Paul Burstow is seeking to outlaw the 'silent scandal' of inappropriate antipsychotics for dementia by proposing legislation that imposes up to...

Assessing Increased Mortality Risks of Antipsychotics and Mood Stabilizers in Dementia

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An article in January's American Journal of Psychiatry weighs the relative risk of mortality associated with various antipsychotics and mood stabilizers used in the treatment of...