Aged Dying From Medicine Misuse, Study Finds

WASHINGTON —  More than half of all deaths from drug reactions occur among older Americans, Wednesday warning of widespread medication problems among the elderly.

The report by the Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general pointed to improper use of drugs by the elderly, misdiagnoses of their conditions by doctors, inappropriate dosage levels and dangerous combinations of prescribed drugs.

“A growing body of evidence accumulated over the past 10 years indicates that mismedication of the elderly has become a critical health care issue, labeled by some as the ‘nation’s other drug problem,”’ said the report by the inspector General Richard P. Kusserow.

Americans over age 60, who comprise 17% of the population, account for 39% of all hospitalizations and 51% of deaths from drug reactions, the report said.

In addition, according to the report:

--In 1985, an estimated 243,000 older Americans were hospitalized for adverse reactions to drugs.

--Every year, 32,000 elderly adults fracture their hips in drug-induced falls.

--160,000 older adults experience serious mental impairment either caused or worsened by drugs.

--Two million elderly Americans are addicted or at risk of addiction to tranquilizers or sleeping pills because of daily use for at least one year.

The report said the problems will worsen when government drug payments under Medicare begin unless an effective drug-use review system is developed. Congress directed the Health and Human Services Department to develop such a system as part of the catastrophic health insurance program created under Medicare last year.

The drug benefit will begin in 1991, with the government paying part of the cost of outpatient prescription drugs that exceed $600 a year for a Medicare recipient.

The report cited several weaknesses in the drug therapy delivery system, including inadequate information about appropriate dosage levels for older people. Most drugs are tested on healthy young adults.

The report also said that physicians are untrained in the area of geriatric pharmacology, and that many elderly people often fail to take their medications as directed.