“Tablets of the antidepressants Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. A new analysis, based on data from doctors’ office visits, suggests that inappropriate prescribing to older people is more common than previously thought.” Credit Jonathan Nourok/Getty Images - SOURCE: The New York Times

by Benedict Carey

“The number of retirement-age Americans taking at least three psychiatric drugs more than doubled between 2004 and 2013, even though almost half of them had no mental health diagnosis on record, researchers reported on Monday.

“The new analysis, based on data from doctors’ office visits, suggests that inappropriate prescribing to older people is more common than previously thought. Office visits are a close, if not exact, estimate of underlying patient numbers. The paper appears in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

“Geriatric medical organizations have long warned against overprescribing to older people, who are more susceptible to common side effects of psychotropic drugs, such as dizziness and confusion.”

Click here to read this article in its entirety at The New York Times