Low-value Care

Unnecessary back surgeries for seniors cost Medicare $2B over three years, analysis finds

Abstract: Hospitals conducted more than 200,000 unnecessary spinal fusion/laminectomy or vertebroplasty procedures on Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older from 2020 to 2022. This generated about $1.9 billion in wasted Medicare spending, according to a new analysis released by the Lown Institute.

Date Published: October 9, 2025

Author(s): Foster Stubbs

Publication: McKnight's Long-Term Care News

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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.