Antipsychotic drugs alter consciousness and can adversely affect an individual’s ability to interact with others. The drugs’ sedative effect, rather than any anticipated medical benefit, too often drives the high prevalence of use in people with dementia. When the drugs are administered without informed consent, people are not making the choice to take such a risk. Studies find that on average, antipsychotic drugs almost double the risk of death in older people with dementia. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) never approved them for this use and has warned against its use for these symptoms. While these symptoms can be distressing for the people who experience them, their families, and nursing facility staff, evidence from clinical trials of the benefits of treating these symptoms with antipsychotic drugs is weak. According to US Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis, facilities often use the drugs to control common symptoms of the disease. Most of these individuals-like most people in nursing homes-have Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.
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The drugs are often given without free and informed consent, which requires a decision based on a discussion of the purpose, risks, benefits, and alternatives to the medical intervention as well as the absence of pressure or coercion in making the decision. In an average week, nursing facilities in the United States administer antipsychotic drugs to over 179,000 people who do not have diagnoses for which the drugs are approved. A director of nursing at a facility in Kansas that succeeded in reducing its rate of antipsychotic drug use, January 2017. Only 10 percent of our residents have a mental illness. Half our residents were on antipsychotics. We cut our antipsychotics in half in six months. Walter L., an 81-year-old man given antipsychotic drugs in a Texas nursing facility, December 2016. I don’t want anything to make me change the person I am.
When I say that, they threaten to remove me from the home. Summary Too many times I’m given too many pills….
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