CCHR International » nursing homes

Are Nursing Homes Over-Drugging Their Residents?

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:21:29 +0000

SF Weekly – October 26, 2011

by Peter Jamison

Click image to watch video: Psychiatric Abuse of the Elderly

According to the San Francisco-based organization California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), more than 25,000 California nursing-home residents are being given anti-psychotic drugs. That’s about a quarter of the state’s nursing-home population, and according to CANHR and other elder-rights activists, it’s a figure that’s way too high — particularly considering the negative side effects these medications can have.

“They’re being sedated into zombie-hood,” says CANHR staff lawyer Tony Chicotel. He adds that anti-psychotic medications increase the risk of death among seniors, are prescribed in place of more effective non-drug methods for handling patients with dementia, and are often give without obtaining patients’ consent.

“They’re very rarely asked whether they want to take the medication,” Chicotel says.

For More information watch this video or read all the facts here

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Two High Ranking Senators – Grassley & Kohl – Question Use of Psych Drugs in Nursing Homes

admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:59:15 +0000

MedPage – August 15, 2011

Emily P. Walker

Click image to watch video: Psychiatric Abuse of the Elderly

WASHINGTON — Two high-ranking senators have urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to take a closer look at potential over-prescribing of atypical antipsychotics to nursing home residents.

There are eight atypical antipsychotics approved by the FDA to treat schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder, including clozapine (Clozaril), aripiprazole (Abilify), and quetiapine (Seroquel).

Atypical antipsychotics are not approved to treat dementia, and must carry black box warnings that elderly people who take atypical antipsychotics have an increased risk of death, compared with those who take placebo pills for dementia.

Still, it’s clear that these drugs are being used in nursing homes to control behavioral problems related to dementia. A 2011 report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that 14% of all nursing home residents with Medicare had claims for antipsychotics and 88% of the atypical antipsychotics prescribed off-label were for dementia.

And in 2009 Elli Lilly, the makers of olanzapine (Zyprexa), pled guilty and paid $1.4 billion to the federal government for allegedly targeting doctors who worked in nursing homes and assisted living facilities to prescribe olanzapine off-label to elderly patients with dementia.

In their letter, Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), urged CMS administrator Donald Berwick, MD, to examine the issue of overuse of antipsychotics in nursing homes more closely. The letter is a follow-up to one the senators sent in May after the release of the OIG report, which the senators themselves requested.

The newest letter, sent Aug. 1, requests that CMS investigate what role pharmacy benefit managers — who manage prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries living in nursing homes — play in fueling the possible overuse of atypical antipsychotics in elderly people in long-term-care facilities.

Pharmacy benefits managers may receive rebates from drug companies for prescribing certain drugs, and CMS should look at their role in “unnecessarily increasing the use of antipsychotic drugs and to subsequently take action to address such practices and curb excess use.”

The letter also urges CMS to consider requiring that physicians, who off-label prescribe drugs with black box warnings to seniors, certify that a Part D provider will cover the drug.

If CMS followed the senators’ advice, Medicare payments for antipsychotics that “lack a medically-accepted indication” should be drastically reduced, the senators said.

“Taking such proactive steps will create disincentives for entities that administer pharmacy benefits to allow these practices to flourish while also providing CMS with clearer means to recoup erroneous payments,” Grassley and Kohl wrote.

A recent study found that the prescription cost for a typical antipsychotic increased from $38 to $41 between 2004 and 2008, while the price tag for an atypical antipsychotic rose from $226 to $323, the researcher found. Overall, the cost of typical antipsychotics in the U.S. was $600 million in 2008, while the cost of atypical drugs reached $9.9 billion.

That same study concluded that atypical antipsychotic use is growing, especially among seniors, and the drugs are increasingly prescribed off-label, sometimes without convincing evidence to support that use.

In 2008, 91% of the prescriptions written for atypical antipsychotics were for circumstances where the evidence for the efficacy was uncertain, the researchers found.

However, a separate study found that after the FDA issued a black box warning about the risks of using the drugs to soothe behavioral problems in dementia patients, there was a decline in prescribing the drugs to patients in the VA medical system.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Geriatrics/Dementia/28052

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At annual convention, psychiatrists collaborate on mental disease mongering to boost profits

admin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:55:07 +0000

Natural News – June 8, 2011

by Monica G. Young

While sipping drinks from coconut shells, psychiatrists from around the world recently met in Honolulu to discuss more ways to capitalize on human behavior and promote drug dependency. The occasion was the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), held in a Hawaiian convention center lined with mental disorder displays and pharmaceutical booths.

“Hot” topics (potential markets for social control and drug pushing) included:

1) Mental health issues during a woman’s reproductive cycle, such as “treating” pregnant women for bipolar – a disorder said to cause unusual shifts in mood and energy levels. In speaking to Medscape News, an APA committee co-chair, Dr. Don Hilty, called this “a really nice-growing area.”

Yet most every woman experiences mood and energy shifts during pregnancy. Despite this, it is not uncommon for pregnant women to be diagnosed as bipolar and prescribed antipsychotics, some of the most powerful drugs on the market. Even the FDA website alerts doctors to “be aware of the effects of antipsychotic medications on newborns when the medications are used during pregnancy.” The site warns of abnormal muscle movements and withdrawal symptoms, and the FDA’s adverse effects reporting program (Medwatch) includes cerebral hemorrhage, heart malformations and death as documented reactions in newborns. Similarly, studies show birth defects and other serious risks for infants whose mothers took antidepressants while pregnant.

2) Childhood disorders were a particularly popular issue at the convention. But they didn’t stop there – prenatal and newborn genetic screening for mental illness has taken on new emphasis in the psychiatric world. “It’s also trying to understand how genetics predict what medications can be used,” stated APA’s Dr. Hilty.

Having already labeled millions of kids “abnormal” and drenched their brains in toxic substances – a multi-billion dollar business – apparently they aren’t satisfied. They aim to brand children as mental patients and destine them for drug-dependency before they’re even born.

The conference even touched upon electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT) for children – sending electric volts through their heads. That will teach ‘em to shut up and sit still! It will also cause permanent brain damage.

3) ADHD is usually promoted as a childhood disorder but a team of psychiatrists proposed a new definition to make it easier to diagnose (and drug) older teens and adults. They claim people who tend to miss work deadlines and interrupt others deserve this label.

This would surely lead to millions more on daily meds. Who doesn’t know co-workers who miss deadlines or even friends who interrupt you? Not emphasized however is that, per a study published in The Clinical Neuropsychologist, one in four adults seeking an ADHD diagnosis fake it to obtain stimulant drugs.

4) Capitalizing on America’s service men and women was another hot one: diagnosing and drugging the military for post-traumatic distress disorder, depression and anxiety.

Did they mention that 18 U.S. veterans commit suicide daily, largely due to psychiatric drugs? Not likely. As reported by Neev M. Arnell in NaturalNews, “the increasingly high number of deaths among both veterans and active duty soldiers-including suicides, accidental overdose, and lethal drug interactions-have now been linked to the exponential increase in the prescribing of drugs for post traumatic stress disorder, depression and other psychological illnesses.” (http://www.naturalnews.com/032598_v…)

5) Anticipating the “silver tsunami” as the Baby Boomer generation moves into the over-65 bracket, psychiatrists stressed the need for more psychiatric services for the elderly.

Not stressed, if mentioned at all, is the rampant over-use of psychiatric drugs in nursing homes. Elderly patients’ reactions to physical ailments are often squelched with mind-altering drugs. And a recently released government audit shows nearly one in seven elderly nursing home residents are given antipsychotics – nearly all of them dementia patients for whom the drugs can be lethal. Many lawsuits and settlements have revealed that drug companies have falsely promoted these drugs to doctors and nursing homes for years.

6) While not on the “hot” list, another issue that bit was bedbugs. A New York psychiatrist and his colleagues presented a detailed study showing bedbugs can trigger anxiety.

What a remarkable – and potentially profitable – discovery! Gee, with the rise in bedbug infestation in New York City, maybe Bedbug Anxiety should be included in the next edition of the DSM (psychiatry’s diagnostic and billing bible).

Father of psychiatry – the bloodletter

The American Psychiatric Association calls itself “the voice and conscience of modern psychiatry.”

Adorning the convention hall was the APA logo which enshrines Dr. Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) as the father of psychiatry. A very influential doctor, teacher and statesman of his time, Rush propagated his theory that Blacks suffered from an inherited disease called “Negritude.” The only evidence of a cure, he said, was the skin turning white. He warned, “whites should not intermarry with them, for this would tend to infect posterity with the ‘disorder.’” Whites, seeking not to be “infected,” used this fabled disease to justify segregation.

Rush was also a chief proponent of bloodletting as a cure-all for mental and physical illnesses. Widespread in America in those days, he made lots of money at it. One of Rush’s students applied his teachings to a patient who complained of a sore throat: nine pints of blood were removed from the man’s body in twenty-four hours and he died. That patient was George Washington, the first President of the United States.

Sources for this article include:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle…

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle…

http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/…

http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/…

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/h…

http://www.jstor.org/pss/985399

http://www.websters-online-dictiona…

http://www.cchr.org/cchr-reports/cr…

About the author:
Monica G. Young is a human rights investigator and educational writer with a purpose to expose the truth about the pharmaceutical and psychiatric industries and safeguard human liberty. She encourages non-drug alternative approaches based on healthy lifestyles and human decency. She supports the Citizens Commission on Human Rights and like-minded groups.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032638_psychiatrists_disease_mongering.html#ixzz1OgRDAmhA

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Grassley Investigates Drugging of Elderly with Antipsychotics

cchrint — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:37:35 +0000

DesMoines Register
May 31, 2011

Sen. Charles Grassley recently sent a letter to the administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He wants some answers after a federal report Grassley requested found many nursing home residents with dementia are given antipsychotic drugs. These drugs are not approved to treat dementia. They can be lethal for those afflicted with it, and Medicare has been paying for them.

Grassley is right to ask questions of the agency. But keeping seniors safe is a responsibility that extends far beyond CMS — from the halls of Congress to state legislatures to nursing home workers in rural Iowa.

Washington

Politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths. They say they want to cut federal spending. They say there should be less government regulation. Then when something goes wrong, they demand federal agencies solve the problems or they take them to task for not doing what they were supposed to do.

Drug safety, nursing home oversight, and ferreting out problems in government programs like Medicare requires staff and resources. That takes money – some of the same money lawmakers propose cutting from the federal budget.

State legislatures

The “cut government but still expect it to keep everyone safe” attitude is prevalent at the state level, too. Shortly after Gov. Terry Branstad took office, one of his appointees cut positions for nursing home inspectors. It underscored a lack of understanding about the important and complicated work of making sure homes meet more than 150 regulatory standards.

In addition to observing care, talking to staff, interviewing residents and other tasks, an inspection team reviews medical records. It is frequently a registered nurse employed by the state who finds problems with medications. Having too few state inspectors puts seniors at risk.

Nursing homes and staff

Improving the quality of life for patients with dementia is difficult — and there are too few drugs approved specifically to do so. Even if doctors are aware of the risks, they may prescribe specific drugs to make patients more comfortable or less agitated. Also, drug companies benefit when more people take their drugs, and they want doctors to prescribe their drugs to, well, as many people as possible. In fact, several drug companies have faced criminal charges for promoting antipsychotic drugs for unapproved uses.

It’s up to nursing home staff and physicians to ensure that drugs prescribed are safe for specific patients.

* * *

Every day about 10,000 Americans become eligible for Medicare. An aging population means more people will be diagnosed with dementia. More will need care in facilities. Everyone — from doctors prescribing drugs to the government paying for them — must do more to keep older people safe.

Read article here: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110601/OPINION03/106010328/-1/GETPUBLISHED03wp-rss2.php/More-need-help-protect-our-elderly

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Cause for alarm: Antipsychotic drugs for nursing home patients

cchrint — Tue, 31 May 2011 21:17:06 +0000

CNN
By Daniel R. Levinson, Special to CNN
May 31, 2011

Daniel Levinson, inspector general for the OIG in the Department of Health and Human Services.

When a loved one moves into a nursing home, the support of family and friends is particularly important. This is especially true when the nursing home patient has dementia and can’t adequately advocate on his or her own behalf.

A newly released report from my office — the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services — makes clear just how crucial it is for families to monitor and ask questions about medications that such patients receive. The report found that too often, elderly residents are prescribed antipsychotic drugs in ways that violate government standards for unnecessary drug use.

Frequently, they are prescribed in ways that don’t qualify as medically accepted for Medicare coverage. In addition, the drugs were predominately prescribed for uses that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

But the most potentially troubling finding of the study is this: Researchers found that 88% of the time, these drugs were prescribed for elderly people with dementia.

This is precisely the population that faces an increased risk of death when using this class of drugs, according to the FDA. That’s why the agency puts its strongest safety warning, called a “black box warning” on these antipsychotic drugs, cautioning about the risk of death when taken by elderly people with dementia.

The report didn’t investigate why patients with dementia are prescribed antipsychotic drugs so often. But a series of lawsuits and settlements that my office helped bring about suggests that many pharmaceutical companies have improperly promoted these drugs to doctors and nursing homes for many years.

Another view: In defense of antipsychotics for dementia

The study began a few years ago, when a member of Congress questioned how many nursing home residents received a class of antipsychotic drugs introduced in the 1990s, among them risperidone and olanzapine. These drugs are known as “atypical” or “second generation” antipsychotics. They replaced the antipsychotic drugs introduced in the 1950s and 1960s to treat schizophrenia — and, incidentially, are far costlier.

The report found about 305,000 nursing home residents (about 14%) had Medicare claims for atypical antipsychotic drugs. Of these, about one in five residents was prescribed these antipsychotics in a way that violated government standards for their use. For example, residents were on a drug for too long, or at too high a dose.

Another finding: A little more than half the antipsychotic drug claims for which Medicare paid should not have been covered. Why? The claimed drugs were not used for medically accepted reasons or there were no records the drugs were actually provided.

To be clear: Most physicians and nursing homes dispense antipsychotic drugs with the best interests of patients in mind. Physicians can use their medical judgment to prescribe drugs for uses unapproved by the FDA, and also to patients for whom the boxed warning applies. Ideally, however, doctors who prescribe in such ways first determine that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Yet it remains a concern that so many elderly nursing home residents with dementia are prescribed antipsychotics. And, unfortunately, examples abound of companies’ improper promotion of these drugs.

Government investigations of Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca and Pfizer found that they improperly promoted their antipsychotic drugs for unapproved uses.

Federal prosecution is pending against Johnson & Johnson for allegedly paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to induce Omnicare, the nation’s largest long-term care pharmacy, to recommend the use of Risperdal in treating nursing home patients, many of whom had dementia.

And Eli Lilly pleaded guilty to criminal charges associated with illegally marketing its drug Zyprexa, including to doctors who treat elderly nursing home patients.

Pharmaceutical companies have paid billions to resolve civil and criminal liabilities under federal health and safety laws. But money can’t adequately compensate for corporate campaigns that could put vulnerable, elderly patients at risk.

How do we solve this problem? There’s plenty to do.

Family members of nursing home residents must learn about their loved ones’ medications, the reasons for their use, proper dosages and possible side effects.

Nursing homes and pharmacies that serve the elderly must keep the best interests of the patient in mind when dispensing pharmaceuticals and not base the decision on the improper influence of drug companies.

Doctors, too, should rely on their best medical judgments and engage in an especially careful analysis when prescribing drugs for off-label use.

Government must combat illegal off-label promotion of these powerful and potentially lethal drugs and uphold nursing home safety standards.

And drug companies should follow the laws, and refrain from promoting drugs for unapproved uses — or paying kickbacks to influence doctors and institutions. About 46 million people are enrolled in Medicare. That will only grow as the huge baby boomer population retires. We cannot afford to leave unaddressed the urgent problem of antipsychotic drug use among elderly nursing home residents.

The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Daniel Levinson.

Read article here: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/31/levinson.nursing.home.drugs/

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Unregulated prescription of antipsychotic drugs in elder care facilities on the rise

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:00:06 +0000

Santa Cruz Sentinel - May 15, 2011

A recent study by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States indicates that residents of some nursing homes may be regularly given atypical antipsychotic drugs as a means of chemical restraint, sometimes to the detriment of their health, including death.

The report, published May 9, states: “For the period January 1 through June 30, 2007, we determined using medical record review that 51 percent of Medicare claims for atypical antipsychotic drugs were erroneous.”

A member of Congress requested the office evaluate the extent to which nursing home residents receive atypical antipsychotic drugs and the associated cost to Medicare. The member expressed concern with these drugs were being prescribed for off-label conditions — i.e. conditions other than schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder — and/or in the presence of a condition specified in the Food and Drug Administration’s boxed warning.

“We determined that 83 percent of Medicare claims for atypical antipsychotic drugs for elderly nursing home residents were associated with off-label conditions and that 88 percent were associated with the condition specified in the FDA boxed warning,” the Office of the Inspector General found.

The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform has been concerned about this issue for some time. For more information, visit www.canhr.org/help.html

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_18067580

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Antipsychotic Drugs Deadly for Elderly Patients, Prescribed Anyway

admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:34:54 +0000

ThirdAge.com

by Alex Heig

Antipsychotic drugs prescribed to as many as one in seven patients with dementia at nursing homes increase the risk of death and are not approved for such uses, a government audit has found.

Drugs such as Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Abilify and Geodon are “potentially lethal” to many of the patients getting them and in many cases, completely unnecessary and unneeded.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that some of the inappropriate use of antipsychotics can be attributed to drugmakers’ habit of paying kickbacks to nursing homes to increase prescriptions for the medicines.

Medicare officials said that diagnosis information is for the most part omitted from prescriptions so officials are unable to tell whether the prescription is appropriate.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned doctors of the risk of using antipsychotic drugs in elderly dementia patients, but doctors have continued the practice because of a relative lack of other options.

Doctors want to maximize quality of life by treating the patient’s agitation even if that means the patient will die a bit sooner,” said Dr. Daniel J. Carlat, editor-in-chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, a medical education newsletter for psychiatrists.

The results of the government audit showed that during the first six months of 2007, 304,983 elderly patients in nursing homes (out of 2.1 million total) had at least one Medicare claim for an antipsychotic medicine.

Meanwhile, 83 percent of antipsychotic prescriptions for elderly nursing home residents were for uses not approved by federal drug regulators, and 88 percent were to treat patients with dementia, for whom the drugs can be lethal.

Federal regulations prohibit any drug paid for by the government from being used for non-approved reasons. Auditors found that 51 percent of claims for antipsychotic medication violated this rule.

Additionally, the government bans drugs used in excessive duration or dose level, even for patients that qualify. Auditors found that 22 percent of claims failed to live up to this requirement.

http://www.thirdage.com/news/antipsychotic-drugs-deadly-for-elderly-patients-prescribed-anyway_05-10-2011?page=1

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All Classes of Psychiatric Drugs Found Equally Dangerous for Nursing Home Residents

admin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:55:02 +0000

MedicalNews Today March 28, 2011

Conventional antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines often administered to nursing home residents are no safer than atypical antipsychotics and may carry increased risks, according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Psychotropic medications are often used to manage behavioral symptoms in seniors, particularly people with dementing illnesses, with up to two-thirds of dementia patients in nursing homes prescribed these medications. However, the effectiveness of these drugs in this indication is unclear and important safety concerns exist, especially related to antipsychotics.

Psychotropic or psychoactive medications act upon the central nervous system and are prescribed for the management of mental and emotional disorders. They include, amongst others, first and second generation antipsychotics (also known as conventional and atypical antipsychotics), antidepressants, benzodiazepines and other sedatives. Despite their widespread use, none of these treatments has been approved by the FDA or Health Canada for the management of behavioral symptoms associated with dementia.

A team of researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, undertook the study to evaluate the comparative safety of various psychotropic medication classes, focusing on patients in nursing homes because of the extensive use of these drugs in this setting and the complexity of these patients’ illnesses. The study cohort included all BC residents admitted to a nursing home between Jan. 1, 1996 and March 31, 2006 and who received a psychotropic drug within 90 days of admission.

Of the 10 900 patients in the study, 1942 received an atypical antipsychotic, 1902 a conventional antipsychotic, 2169 an antidepressant and 4887 a benzodiazepine. Rigorous methodological approaches were applied to ensure this non-randomized study was not affected by the selective prescribing that tends to occur in routine care.

“In 10 900 older adults newly admitted to nursing homes in BC who began taking psychotropic medications, we observed risks of death that were higher among those who initiated conventional antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines. We also observed risks of femur fracture that were higher with conventional antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines used for anxiety, all compared with atypical antipsychotics. No clinically meaningful differences were observed for risk of pneumonia or heart failure, except possibly a lower risk of pneumonia and a higher risk of heart failure with benzodiazepines,” state the authors.

They conclude that a large randomized trial is required to confirm their findings but that clinicians should weigh the increased risks against potential benefits when considering prescribing these medications for their patients in nursing homes.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/220129.php

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The verdict is in: Johnson & Johnson misled physicians in Risperdal marketing campaign

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:28:01 +0000

McKnights – March 25, 2011

A jury in South Carolina on Tuesday found Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical unit, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen, guilty of misleading doctors about the safety and effectiveness of the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal.

Janssen violated South Carolina’s consumer protection laws in 2003 when it sent a letter to roughly 7,200 doctors in the state touting the safety and effectiveness of Risperdal, the jury decided. Civil penalties could total more than $35 million, or $5,000 for each letter Janssen sent, according to a Bureau of National Affairs report. That hearing will take place April 18-19.

Johnson & Johnson has been embroiled in numerous legal battles surrounding its marketing of Risperdal. The company is alleged to have paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to pharmaceutical giant Omnicare to influence Risperdal sales to nursing home residents. The South Carolina case is one of 12 state-led cases against the company, according to BNA.

http://www.mcknights.com/the-verdict-is-in-johnson-johnson-misled-physicians-in-risperdal-marketing-campaign/article/199127/

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Questions Raised Over Antipsychotic Usage On Elderly

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:01:08 +0000

Groups Trying To Prevent Misuse Of Psychoactive Drugs On Elderly Patients

10News.com- San Diego

March, 2, 2011

The 10News I-Team has learned many local skilled nursing facilities are using powerful drugs to control elderly patients’ behavior.Keith Blair suffered from mild dementia, and it wasn’t until after his death that his daughter, Marian Hollingsworth, realized he’d been given antipsychotic drugs.

“It’s a way of controlling them. It keeps him in bed,” said Hollingsworth.Until that realization, Hollingsworth was puzzled by her father’s rapid deterioration. He had been given the powerful antispychotics Risperdal and Haldol without her permission.”Antipsychotic drugs are for the treatment of mental illness, not dementia,” said Tony Chicotel of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR). “And now we’ve got studies that show just horrific outcomes for people with dementia who take these drugs and that they’re prescribed just as much as they ever were, if not more.

“CANHR is trying to end the misuse of psychoactive drugs to control seniors. The group created a website which allows anyone to see how many patients are receiving psychoactive drugs at any skilled nursing facility in California. Experts say while using these drugs is sometimes justified, there are dangers in their misuse.”When you see nursing homes that are above 90 percent of their residents are receiving a psychotropic drug, you’re wondering what the hell is going on there,” said Chicotel.

read the rest of the story here: http://www.10news.com/news/27059153/detail.html

Visit the California Association for Nursing Home Reform website for their Campaign to Stop Chemical Restraints in Nursing Homes

http://www.canhr.org/stop-drugging/

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CCHR International » nursing homes

Are Nursing Homes Over-Drugging Their Residents?

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