Study suggests nursing home residents taken off antipsychotics were given more antidepressant, anxiety, sedative, anticonvulsant, mood stabilizer and anti-dementia medications.
Some had feared nursing homes would begin diagnosing dementia patients with mental health conditions they do not have to allow the continued use of antipsychotics to sedate residents.
Findings come amid continuing concerns about the overuse of antipsychotics for dementia patients in long-term care facilities, which is considered a form of "chemical restraint" or nursing home abuse.
Domperidone is a drug used to treat stomach paralysis, which has been linked to Ozempic. However, researchers warn that side effects may increase a diabetic's risk of cardiac arrest by 66%
New screening standards recommend anxiety evaluations for children as young as 8, which could result in even more drug prescriptions, researchers warn.
Even though rates of dementia diagnoses dropped worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of prescribing antipsychotics to those patients increased, raising fears the drugs are being used as chemical restraints.
Facilities found to use nursing home chemical restraints will be automatically given a one-star rating on the government's Nursing Home Compare website.
More nursing homes are turning to anticonvulsants, like Depakote and Neurontin, for patients who do not need them, leading some to suspect they are being used as "chemical restraints"
Antiepileptic drugs may be being used as a new form of "chemical restraint" on dementia patients, which is considered a form of nursing home abuse.
To avoid using antipsychotic "chemical restraints" on dementia patients, some nursing homes have turned to other drugs which have also not been proven safe or effective.
