USA: Study reveals dementia patients are prescribed risky drugs despite safety warnings

Dementia patients in the U.S. are still being prescribed risky stimulant medications despite longstanding warnings about their safety, new research has found.

For decades, clinical guidelines have discouraged giving central nervous system stimulants to older patients because they increase the risk of delirium, falls, and hospitalizations.

But in a peer-reviewed study published Monday in the American Medical Association's official journal, researchers estimated that roughly 25% of dementia patients enrolled in Medicare parts A, B, and D received at least one such "potentially inappropriate" medication between 2013 and 2021.

That description covers a wide range of drugs, including antipsychotics, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and certain antidepressants such as doxepin and imipramine.

Across all study participants, prescriptions fell over the course of the study from around 20% to around 16%, but continued to be higher for patients with cognitive impairment as of 2021.

"While this decline was encouraging, over two-thirds of patients receiving these prescriptions lacked a documented clinical indication in 2021, the end of the study period, suggesting high levels of potentially inappropriate and harmful prescribing," said study author and UCLA medicine professor Dr. John M. Mafi.

“Compared with patients with normal cognition, we also found higher levels of prescribing among older adults with cognitive impairment, who face a higher risk of adverse effects from these drugs.

"These results underscore substantial opportunities to improve the quality and safety of care for millions of older Americans."

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Source: The Independent, 13 January 2026