Mr. H is a 78-year-old male presenting to a primary care clinic for a routine medication review. In this scenario, we want to identify deprescribing targets. His past medical history includes hypertension, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF),...
It’s not uncommon to see patients in long-term care facilities prescribed medications for anxiety, agitation, or insomnia. Two such medications that can raise red flags are Atarax (hydroxyzine) and Ativan (lorazepam). While both can be appropriate in select...
An 82-year-old woman with a history of mild Alzheimer’s dementia is started on donepezil 10 mg nightly to help with memory and cognitive function. After several weeks, her family reports that she’s been waking up multiple times per night to urinate and has complained...
In this case scenario, I review a common situation I’ve encountered with duplicate antidepressant therapy. JS is a 67-year-old male with a history of type 2 diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, and depression. He has been taking sertraline (podcast) 100 mg daily for...
I was asked a question the other day about trying to reduce medications in a patient on hospice. More specifically, how to address the use of PPIs. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are some of the most overused medications we see in clinical practice, but hospice...
