Geriatric Care Management Blog

I have written in past postings about some of the interactions between medicines that older adults may see if they are placed on multiple medications for their multiple ailments.  But it is not just interactions that should get our attention.  As a geriatric care manager I am increasingly focused on my clients’ medication even if they are on only one prescription.  The reason for my renewed focus is in that flimsy sheet of paper with the really small type that you will find included with every prescription a pharmacist dispenses; it is called the package insert.  And beyond reminding you how and when to take the medicine, it gives the patient and their caregiver some important warnings about the potential for side effects that particular medicine has. Dr. Jon Duke of Indiana University and some colleagues reported recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine on the startling rise in the number of side effects that...