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Article: 1 in 12 drugs inappropriately prescribed to elderly.
- Article from:
- HealthFacts
- Article date:
- March 1, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Center for Medical Consumers, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Nearly 8% of the ambulatory medical care visits made by elderly people resulted in at least one inappropriate drug prescription, according to a survey reported in Archives of Internal Medicine (2/9/04). Urban women and white people made the majority of visits to physician offices and hospital outpatient departments.
Margie Rauch Goulding, PhD, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducted the survey, which identified pain relievers and central nervous system drugs as making up the largest share of the inappropriately prescribed medicines. The two pain relievers are pentazocine (brand name: Talwin) and propoxyphene. The latter is sold under the ...