Are Seniors Prescribed Too Many Pills?

A 2016 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found 36 percent of seniors regularly take at least five different prescribed drugs at the same time, which can sometimes have severe side effects, reports Healthline . "As geriatricians, we're trained to take off medications first before we put more on," says California-based geriatrician Elizabeth Landsverk. "But often once medications are on, unless there's a blatant problem, they don't come off." Landsverk adds that medications are usually continued because doctors do not want to override drugs given by another doctor. Another unintended reason for overmedication of seniors may involve persons wanting a quick solution for a problem and doctors wanting to help them quickly without thoroughly considering possible side effects.