Report Sounds Alarm on Medication Overload Among Older Americans

Aging experts warned in a report from the Lown Institute of too many older adults taking too many medications, causing an explosion in adverse drug events (ADE) over the past 20 years, reports Next Avenue . The rate of emergency department visits by older adults for ADEs doubled between 2006 and 2014. Lown's Shannon Brownlee estimates medication overload could lead to 74 million outpatient visits, 4.6 million hospitalizations, and 150,000 premature deaths among older Americans, costing the U.S. health system $62 billion. "No healthcare professional group, public organization, or government agency to date has formally assumed responsibility for addressing this national problem," Brownlee added. The Lown report cited three classes of drugs responsible for 60 percent of emergency department visits for ADEs among older adults — blood thinners, diabetes medications, and opioids. The potential for adverse side effects also can be increased by sedative hypnotics, blood pressure medications, antipsychotics, and over-the-counter drugs like antihistamines. Brown University Professor James Rudolph urges primary care providers and specialists to partner on addressing polypharmacy and ADEs.