Many Older Patients on Risky Drugs
 (HealthDayNews, 8/9/04)

When Dr. Kevin Schulman of Duke University and colleagues analyzed the data on the prescriptions filled for 765,423 adults over 65 who had filed claims with AdvancePCS in 1999, the investigators found that at least 20% of the subjects received drugs that were potentially harmful to older people. Schulman explained that these patients were given medications listed on the “Beers List” as potentially unsafe for seniors. These findings suggest that physicians should pay closer attention to the potential harm certain drugs can do to aging bodies and that our healthcare system should institute safeguards to minimize unnecessary risks to patients.

(The Archives of Internal Medicine, August 9, 2004).