--- title: Antipsychotics Are Frequently Prescribed to Adults with Dementia description: In a new report, federal authorities reveal that antipsychotic drugs are being over-prescribed to men and women with dementia. canonical: https://time.com/3728312/antipsychotics-dementia/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-02T16:26:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:50:05.785Z article:section: Health og:title: Antipsychotics Are Frequently Prescribed to Adults with Dementia og:description: In a new report, federal authorities reveal that antipsychotic drugs are being over-prescribed to men and women with dementia. og:url: https://time.com/3728312/antipsychotics-dementia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c132b76e2a5ae11/6987789935ba6f1bc6c0659f/health-pills-prescription-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Health Prescription Pills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Antipsychotics Are Frequently Prescribed to Adults with Dementia twitter:description: In a new report, federal authorities reveal that antipsychotic drugs are being over-prescribed to men and women with dementia. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c132b76e2a5ae11/6987789935ba6f1bc6c0659f/health-pills-prescription-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Antipsychotics Frequently Prescribed to Adults with Dementia Despite Risks > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 2, 2015 4:26 PM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 2, 2015 4:26 PM UTC Antipsychotic drugs are being over-prescribed to men and women with dementia, according to a [new report](http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-211) from the federal government. The report published on Monday shows that around one third of older adults with dementia living in nursing homes had been prescribed an antipsychotic in 2012, as well as 14% of older adults with dementia who lived outside a nursing home. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) discovered the numbers when reviewing Medicare’s prescription drug program. The high number of prescriptions is a concern since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has [warned](http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm124830.htm) that antipsychotic drugs can increase the risk of death for certain people with dementia. The officials note that while the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken steps to address the use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes, it still has more outreach to do to educate people about the hazards of prescribing the drugs. The report shows that patients with dementia are often given the drugs at a hospital, possibly to treat the irritation and mood swings caused by the disorder, and then the drugs continue to be used when the patients enter a nursing home. The drugs are most often prescribed when facilities have low staff numbers. “Educational efforts similar to those provided for nursing homes should be extended to other settings,” the GAO study’s authors write. 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