US Senators introduce bill to prevent abusive antipsychotics Rxing

To address the growing costs and concerns about the overuse of antipsychotics in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in the USA, US Senators Herb Kohl (Democrat, Wisconsin) Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa) and Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, Connecticut) last week introduced new bipartisan legislation.

The Improving Dementia Care Treatment in Older Adults Act, S 3604, would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a standardized protocol for obtaining informed consent prior to administering antipsychotics. The bill would also create prescriber education programs to promote evidence-based treatments using objective informational materials. The legislation would also use the drug regimen review process already in place at nursing homes to produce a monthly aggregate report of antipsychotic utilization for each facility.

“Despite the black box warnings and numerous multi-billion dollar settlements levied against pharmaceutical manufacturers for illegal off-label marketing, we continue to see an alarming number of dementia patients in nursing home and assisted living facilities being prescribed antipsychotics off-label to deal with agitation or other behavioral issues,” said Sen Kohl, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, adding: “Our legislation provides some straightforward and commonsense steps that will help decrease the improper, dangerous and costly use of antipsychotics and accelerate the shift toward the broader use of safer alternatives.”