In the News
Use of Antipsychotics in the Elderly
In April of 2005, the FDA mandated that the drugs olanzapine, aripiprazole, risperidone, quetiapine, clozapine and ziprasidone carry a black box warning stating that: “Elderly people with psychosis related to dementia (a brain disorder that lessens the ability to remember, think, and reason) are at increased risk of death when taking certain mental health medicines compared with a sugar pill.”
Analyzing VA data, Dr. Helen Kales found that: “Antipsychotic medications taken by patients with dementia were associated with higher mortality rates than were most other medications used for neuropsychiatric symptoms. The association between mortality and antipsychotics is not well understood and may be due to a direct medication effect or the pathophysiology underlying neuropsychiatric symptoms that prompt antipsychotic use.”
