Mrs. M is an 87-year-old female residing in a skilled nursing facility. Her medication list includes: Apixaban 5 mg BID (for atrial fibrillation) Docusate 100 mg BID Senna 8.6 mg BID PEG 17 g daily Calcium carbonate 500 mg TID Lisinopril 10 mg daily Metoprolol...
Here’s a question that comes up in hospice more than you’d think: Why would a hospice patient be on two antipsychotics at the same time? To the average clinician, this raises immediate concerns—duplication, unnecessary side effects, and polypharmacy in a population...
Counteracting drug effects are all too common in geriatric and polypharmacy patients. I wanted to share common examples that I’ve seen in my practice as a clinical pharmacist. NSAIDs vs. AntihypertensivesCase: A 68-year-old man with hypertension controlled on...
Digoxin is a cardiac glycoside that has a narrow therapeutic window. Because of this, we typically monitor digoxin levels. If levels get too high, we can run into adverse effects. In some cases, particularly geriatric patients, those adverse can be misinterpreted as...
Deprescribing is an important part of care for hospice patients. The main goal of hospice care is to focus on comfort care rather than curative treatments, which means evaluating if a patient’s current medications are still indicated, effective, safe, and convenient....
In this case, I outline a unique situation involving stimulants and elderly patients. I outline some of the potential complications and contributions to the prescribing cascade. A 76-year-old female resides in an assisted living. She has a history of ADHD, anxiety,...
