Low-value Care

Opinion: A patient’s role in developing new drug treatments

Abstract: On March 19, the president said he “slashed red tape to develop vaccines” and “eliminated outdated rules and bureaucracies” for drug approvals. He announced that chloroquinine is a possible medication to combat the coronavirus. The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, just approved it for limited use.

Publication: Connecticut Post

Date Published: April 8, 2020

Author(s): Randi Oster

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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.