Poor service provision is blamed for overuse of antipsychotics in dementia patients

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4818

Published 16 November 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4818
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4818

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Poor service provision is blamed for overuse of antipsychotics in dementia patients

Oona Mashta

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

About 144 000 UK patients with dementia are being given antipsychoticdrugs unnecessarily, causing about 1800 deaths a year, a newreport says.

About 820 extra serious adverse events such as stroke each yearcan be attributed to inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotics,say the report’s authors, led by Sube Banerjee, professorof mental health and ageing at the Institute of Psychiatry,King’s College London.

Only 36 000 patients may be deriving some benefit from treatmentwith antipsychotics, says the report on the use of such treatmentin people with dementia, which was commissioned by the government.

Professor Banerjee blamed the overuse of antipsychotics on asystem failure.

The report says, "Part of the reason for health and social caresystems not being geared up to dementia is that this recentrapid growth in numbers has not been matched by service changesto accommodate different needs.

"Just a generation ago there . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Beware of antipsychotics in the elderly: Hugh Mann
bmj.com, 18 Nov 2009 [Full text]
Antipsychotic treatment for dementia may now constitute 'serious medical treatment' under the Mental Capacity Act 2005: Tim Branton, et al.
bmj.com, 18 Nov 2009 [Full text]
Please don't waste more resources: Thomas A Groves
bmj.com, 26 Nov 2009 [Full text]
Both conventional and atypical anti- psychotics are dangerous: Zekria Ibrahimi
bmj.com, 27 Nov 2009 [Full text]
Considering the alternatives: Wiiliam R Jones, et al.
bmj.com, 27 Nov 2009 [Full text]
Care of people with dementia: report on the use of antipsychotics: David J Jolley
bmj.com, 30 Nov 2009 [Full text]