Low-value Care

Are You Taking Too Many Meds?

Abstract: According to a 2020 report by the Lown Institute, a health-systems think tank that tracks prescription trends, 42% of older Americans routinely take five or more prescription drugs a day and close to 20% take 10 or more.

Date Published: June 17, 2022

Author(s): Barbara Farrell, PharmD

Publication: Bottom Line, Inc.

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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.