This is so hard to deal with. One of my friends basically had to jailbreak her 92-year-old mother from a nursing home last year because they had her so loaded up with these drugs:

Dementia is a horrible disease. It has numerous forms – Alzheimer’s, Lewy-Body, Vascular – all of which rob the individual of their memories, their personalities, and eventually, their lives.  There are medications that can slow these changes, but they must be carefully monitored to ensure the individual responds appropriately. In many cases, the medications must be discontinued because of adverse responses. Eventually, the disease robs individuals of their ability to live at home, even with regular assistance, and at that point, families are often forced to have their loved one admitted to a nursing facility.

The admission to the facility is another heartbreak for families. They must move the loved one out of a familiar space and into a new one. Many times, the individual is terribly confused by the change, which can cause them to lash out, vocally or physically, in response. Sometimes, sedation of some form is necessary to avoid harm to the individual, other residents, or employees, but the use of sedation should be the exception, not the rule.

Unfortunately, an investigation by CNN uncovered the use of sedatives and antipsychotic medications on individuals with dementia in all situations to make them more pliable and responsive to guidance or to simply make them less needy. Many times, these medications were not prescribed for the individual, or they were prescribed inappropriately. Additionally, the impact of these medications on the mental conditions of the individuals was not properly monitored or tracked. These medications could also lead to falls and injuries that would not have otherwise occurred.

This has been identified as a nationwide problem. Families across the United States have reported loved ones who were incoherent, groggy, unresponsive, injured, or killed. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a report that showed between 2014 and 2017, inspectors issued more than 7,000 violations to facilities related to improper use of antipsychotic medications. CMS also found that since 2012, the use of antipsychotic medications has decreased by 35 percent. This consistent monitoring has clearly made a difference, but the Trump Administration, at the end of 2017, ordered CMS to roll back its imposition of penalties on nursing homes that violated Medicare and Medicaid regulations. What impact this will have on the progress made on the inappropriate use of antipsychotics is anyone’s guess, but it is probably safe to say things will not continue to improve at their current rate.

“As can be seen from the CNN report, this type of improper medication has been going on for decades,” said Gordon Glover, a partner with the Glover Law Firm, which deals regularly with nursing home litigation. “Caring for an individual suffering from dementia is an incredibly challenging task, as any of these families will tell you, and when it becomes too challenging, these families rely on these facilities to provide the level of care they couldn’t. Unfortunately, some facilities have decided that they can’t provide that care either, and instead of being upfront, they chose to medicate patients to make their lives easier. These types of practices are completely unacceptable and should be challenged at every turn.”