STUDY: NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION STRATEGY NEEDED TO PROTECT OLDER ZOOMERS
Jun 22, 2016
By Bob Komsic
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Yet another study that once again demonstrates how older Canadians are being over-prescribed or inappropriately given medicines.
The study from the University of B.C. is calling for a national strategy to protect seniors.
The author says the effects of a lot of medications can be altered by physiological changes associated with aging.
Professor Steve Morgan claims dealing with inappropriate prescriptions costs Canada almost $2-billion a year.
He says other countries are dealing with this problem, including Australia, which started educating the medical community and the public 16 years ago about the importance of weaning off some medications, including sedatives.
And a founding director of the Gerontology Research Centre at Simon Fraser University, says some doctors prescribe anti-psychotic drugs because they wrongly assume seniors have dementia.
The study can be found in CMAJ Open – an online open-access journal of the Canadian Medical Association.