Ethical Failings in Experimental Drug Safety Trials
Leading human subjects ethics researcher questions exploitation of uninsured minorities in experimental drug trials.
For-Profit Medicine Incentivizes Overmedicating Our Elderly
FromĀ NBC: According to human rights investigators, anti-psychotic drugs are often administered to nursing home residents to address behavioral issues. Our nation's lack of funding...
Some Nursing Homes Trying To Move Beyond Antipsychotics
-Some nursing homes are changing their approaches since the US federal government began more closely regulating the use of antipsychotic medications in elderly patients with dementia.
Few Seniors Have Advance Directives, Yet Doctors Don’t Like It When They Do
In MinnPost, Susan Perry discusses a JAMA Internal Medicine study that found that, within 48 hours of being hospitalized, almost half of adults aged...
Not an Onion Study: Underpowered Analysis Of Poor Quality Data Finds Antipsychotics Actually Aren’t...
University of Groningen researchers analyzed only small, short-term clinical trials of generally poor quality to determine that antipsychotics are not linked to increased risk of death in elderly people with dementia.
Ritalin Used to be āGrandmaās Little Helperā
Eugene Raikhel reveals ads from 1966 where Ritalin, now prescribed largely for ADHD, was marketed as a ākind of mind antidepressant for housewives.ā Ā āI...
Certain Antidepressants, Sleep Aids Associated with Higher Dementia Risk
Greater cumulative doses of drugs that are anticholinergic or block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine are associated with significant increases in dementia and Alzheimer's.
Pharma-linked Panel Advises Wider Use of Statins Even as Drugs’ Links to Dementia Re-affirmed
People who take statins are at āsignificantly greaterā risk of memory impairment than those who donāt take the popular cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to research...
PTSD and Psychiatric Medication Linked to Dementia in Older Veterans
Veterans diagnosed with PTSD and taking SSRIs, novel antidepressants, or atypical antipsychotics are more likely to develop dementia.
Radical Disabled Americans Bringing Direct Action to Your Town
FromĀ Pacific Standard:Ā ADAPT, a national direct action disability rights group, recently staged a protest to fight provisions in the GOP's health care plan that will...
Feminist Retirement Home in Paris Celebrates Aging
FromĀ Girl Talk HQ: A new feminist retirement home in Paris has been built to celebrate aging and counter the societal narrative that growing oldĀ is...
How Many Pills are too Many?
FromĀ The New York Times: Overprescription is becoming an increasingly prevalent public health issue, especially for older adults with multiple chronic conditions.
"Though studies have found...
Cognitive Enhancement With Yoga
FromĀ Psychiatric Times: A recent study suggests that Kundalini yoga may be at least as effective asĀ memory training in improvingĀ cognitive resilience in older adults with...
People Age Better if They Have a Purpose in Life
FromĀ TIME: Living purposefully may help people maintain their physical function and independence as they age. According to a new study, older adults with a...
The Never-Ending Misuse of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes
FromĀ Health Affairs: Although the problem of antipsychotic misuse in nursing homes has been raised to policymakers numerous times over the past six decades, the...
The Other Big Drug Problem: Older People Taking Too Many Pills
FromĀ The Washington Post: In addition to the opioid crisis, America has one other prescription drug epidemicĀ ā older Americans are taking far too many unnecessary...
People With Dementia Press for More Rights
FromĀ STAT:Ā People with dementia are coming together to fight for theĀ right to make their own decisions, to have a voice in public policy, and to...
Gallup: āAmericans’ Views of Pharmaceutical Industry Take a Tumbleā
āIn Gallup's annual measure of 25 major U.S. business sectors, the percentage of Americans with a positive view of the pharmaceutical industry dropped from 40% in 2014 to 35% this year, while the percentage with a negative view rose from 36% to 43%.ā
Weaning the Elderly off Sleeping Pills
In a follow-up to an earlier commentary on the topic, Paula Span discusses the widespread use and negative effects of sleeping pills among the...
Is “Low Testosterone” Actually a “Disease”?
-Various experts weigh in on whether the boom in diagnosing psychological and physical problems as being caused by "low testosterone" is "disease-mongering."
Still Mistreating the Elderly with Psychiatric Drugs: Antipsychotics
The percentage of seniors in the United States prescribed potentially deadly antipsychotic drugs increases with age. A new study reveals that in the face of serious risks of strokes, fractures, kidney injuries, and death, over seventy-five percent of seniors given antipsychotics do not have a diagnosis for a mental disorder.
Sunday FM: Music Therapy Comes to Life in Documentary
A new documentary coming to theatres around the US over the next few months explores Dan Cohen's Music and Memory program and its emotional...
A Quiet Drug Problem Among the Elderly
FromĀ The New York Times: Use of benzodiazepines has risen among seniors despite their increased vulnerability to the drugs' adverse effects.
"'Set aside the opioid issue,'...
The Drug Being Pushed on Nursing Home Residents
FromĀ Next Avenue: The drug Nuedexta has only been approved for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the maker of...
AHCA Puts Disabled People One Step Closer to Institutions
FromĀ Talk Poverty: Last week, the House passed the American Health Care Act, which wouldĀ cut funding from in-home care programs and community support for seniors...
