Low-value Care

Deprescribing Proton Pump Inhibitors Overcoming Resistance

Abstract: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a successful class of medications accounting for $79 billion spent in the United States between 2007 and 2011.1 While many PPI indications involve limited or short-term use, it is not uncommon for patients to use them for extended periods or for clinicians to prescribe them for indications not supported by robust evidence of efficacy.

Publication: JAMA Internal Medicine

Date Published: February 24, 2020

Author(s): Todd C. Lee, MD, MPH, FIDSA and Emily G. McDonald, MD, MSc

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To eliminate medication overload, serious cultural, educational, and policy changes are needed. This action plan offers recommendations for policymakers, health care institutions, clinicians, and patients across five key categories to reduce harm from multiple medication use. Suggested Citation: Eliminating medication overload: A national action plan. Working Group on Medication Overload. Brookline, MA: The Lown Institute, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46241/LI.YLBW4885

Pharmaceutical marketing is a significant factor in the growing public health crisis of medication overload, which puts millions of older adults at risk of preventable harm and premature death. This issue brief provides recommendations to reduce pharmaceutical industry influence by limiting pharma sales rep visits to clinicians and direct-to-consumer advertising.

This issue brief provides recommendations for clinical practice guidelines and electronic health records that would give clinicians the information they need to appropriately prescribe and deprescribe.