Antipsychotic Drug Side Effects May Increase Risk of Elderly Falls, Fractures: Study

Canadian researchers indicate that new-generation antipsychotic medications, such as the blockbuster drugs Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel and others, appear to increase the risk of falls and bone fractures among elderly users. 

In a study published this month as a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers indicate that the risk of hip fractures from antipsychotics is increased among elderly by nearly 70% within the first 90 days of being prescribed the medications.

Researchers looked specifically at the drugs Risperdal, Seroquel, and Zyprexa, examining data from a population-based cohort of nearly 200,000 older adults. The study compared reports of falls or fractures between those who were prescribed atypical antipsychotics and those who were not.

Overall, patients 65 and older were 52% more likely to suffer a serious fall and 50% more likely to have a nonvertebral bone fracture within the first three months of being prescribed one of the three drugs for the first time. However, researchers found no statistical differences between the drugs and their increased risks. They also found no link between dosage or whether the patient was being treated at home or in a nursing home.

More than half of those studied who were prescribed the drugs suffered from dementia, despite warnings by the FDA and other health experts that antipsychotics should not be given to dementia patients due to the risk of serious health problems and premature death that may be caused by the drugs.

Antipsychotics As Chemical Restraints

Antipsychotics like Risperdal and Seroquel are often used in U.S. nursing homes as a form of chemical restraint, drugging elderly dementia patients into an easily controllable state. The medications are widely overused among dementia patients, despite prior research that has found that antipsychotics provide no actual benefits for treating dementia, and could increase their chance of dying.

Unnecessary use of chemical restraints is often considered a form of nursing home abuse, and the FDA has warned that use of the drugs may increase the risk of death for dementia patients, yet widespread use continues.

In September 2014, a study was published in the same journal which found that more than half of all dementia patients in the U.S. appear to be receiving drugs that are not helping them.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has previously accused Johnson & Johnson of engaging in kickback schemes designed to convince doctors to prescribe their antipsychotic medication Risperdal to elderly nursing home patients, knowing that the drug was being used abusively and potentially placing patients’ at risk of death.

In November 2013, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $2.2 billion to the federal government to settle its Risperdal illegal marketing claims.