Psych Med Polypharmacy Incapacitates Elderly Man

There's apparently a real trend in our land toward excessive polypharmacy in our elders and this account from Peter Gott's "Family Doctor" syndicated column provides a spooky example of the trend and the overuse of psych meds to "calm" patients. The man was 79 and was diagnosed with multisystem atrophy and also has dementia.

"He fell last May, breaking his arm and hitting his head. Within one day, he was unable to feed himself, walk or do anything. He was hospitalized for eight days and then spent two months in a rehabilitation facility. During his hospitalization, he became extremely agitated and was given Ativan. A few days later, it was found that he had a urinary-tract infection. He had two more UTIs while in rehab, which would cause him to become agitated. Each time, he was given Ativan.

"After completing rehab, it was suggested that he go to a hospital ward where 'they would adjust his medications.' He spent a month there. Because of his orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure from sitting or standing up too quickly) from the MSA, he was immediately restrained. During that month, he was given FazaClo, Haldol, Provigil, Lunesta, Lexapro, Seroquel, Cymbalta, Thorazine, Depakote sprinkles and eventually had four electroshock treatments. The drugs were given in various combinations and dosages, which sometimes changed daily. When he was discharged, he was sent to an assisted-living facility. He could no longer walk, was incontinent, couldn’t hold up his head, communicate, or feed or care for himself in any way. He had lost 35 pounds."

That's some nice medication adjusting going on there.

Seriously, though, I keep hearing similar stories from readers and you've got to wonder what the hell is going on out there and where this overuse of psych meds got started. As for ECT for agitation with dementia, I've never heard of the practice and am disgusted by it. You've got to wonder how all this was going down and if it happened behind the family's back. The case sure sounds like elder abuse to me.

As it happens, the above man was taken off all the psych meds and has reportedly improved over the last five months. Gott himself agreed with the move.

On a personal note, my father, 76, recently developed bronchitis and went to one of those Redi-Care sorts of clinics they have in Arizona. The doctor who saw my dad said he was stunned that my father was on no medication of any kind (there's no reason for any). Apparently, it's quite common for senior citizens to be on a slew of drugs for all kinds of ailments, but when you read stories like the above you just shake your head.