Thirty percent of Covid-19 patients were prescribed antibiotics in outpatient setting
Overprescribing of antibiotics for Medicare patients with Covid-19 was rampant in the first year of the pandemic, research from the CDC finds. More
How to identify low-value prescribing practices
A newly-developed metric of low-value prescribing practices helps fill an important gap in the research of overuse metrics. More
Guest Interview: How prescription checkups can work on the ground
To reduce harmful overmedication, we need to give doctors and patients opportunities to deprescribe. One pharmacy benefit manager has already started providing prescription checkups for their members -- here's how their program is working so far. More
How electronic tools can help deprescribe in the hospital
The Medsafer study shows how clinical decision tools can help doctors deprescribe more in the hospital. More
Overdiagnosis of schizophrenia in nursing homes is rampant, especially for Black residents.
Overuse of antipsychotic medications is a long-standing problem among nursing home residents with dementia. However, a 2012 policy to address the problem may have unintentionally created a new problem of overdiagnosis. More
How a better health record system could reduce medication overload
A quirk in the electronic health record system means that it's much harder for clinicians to discontinue medications than prescribe them. More
Are we overmedicating loneliness?
New research shows that older adults facing social isolation are also put at greater risk of overmedication. More
From trials to real world: Implementing deprescribing
Stopping harmful medications sounds simple, but it can be much harder in practice. How can we take what we've learned from deprescribing trials and scale them up? Dr. Justin Turner explains in a webinar hosted by the US Deprescribing Research Network. More
How pharmacists can be deprescribing heroes
How can we remove the barriers and make pharmacists our deprescribing heroes? In their recent piece in Senior Care Pharmacist, Judith Garber and Don Downing create a roadmap for collaboration. More
Could telehealth increase inappropriate prescribing?
The Covid-19 pandemic has ushered in the era of telehealth. But are there unintended consequences for overprescribing? More
More than a third of older adults are prescribed potentially inappropriate drugs, study finds
In a new study, researchers found that 34% of older adults were prescribed a potentially inappropriate medication. People taking five or more medications were much more likely to have received an inappropriate medication. More
Where do we go next in deprescribing research?
In a keynote address for the US Deprescribing Research Network Conference, Dr. Cara Tannenbaum urged participants to reimagine the future of deprescribing research. More
“You need this drug,” and other things clinicians should stop saying
We spoke with Dr. Tom Perry, clinical associate professor at UBC to ask him about practical ways to avoid medication overload and the assumptions about medications we need to rethink in our society. More
Tackling our “drive to prescribe”
Members of the Lown Institute Working Group on Medication Overload gave a webinar presentation last week, which is available to watch now! More
What does it take to put prescription checkups into practice?
In the Health Affairs blog, Lown VP Shannon Brownlee, and Maisha Draves and Lynn Deguzman from Kaiser Permanente describe what it takes to implement prescription checkups for patients who need it. More
Communication tips from a “rogue deprescriber”
Dr. Cara Tannenbaum gives tips for when and how to have deprescribing conversations, at a Grand Rounds talk at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. More
PRESS RELEASE: Millions of Older Americans Harmed by Too Many Medications
Lown Institute just released Eliminating Medication Overload: A National Action Plan. More
Boston Globe features Lown medication overload project
The Boston Globe highlights the problem of medication overload and provides a sneak peek of the upcoming Lown action plan. More
A caregiver’s story of medication overload
In a recent feature article in Healthy Aging magazine, patient advocate Johanna Trimble describes what happened when her mother-in-law, Fervid, was transferred from her residential facility to a nearby health care center. More
What we can do about “the other drug problem”
On "The People's Pharmacy" on NPR, Shannon Brownlee and Cynthia Boyd discuss drivers of and solutions for medication overload. More