The Guardian

Inappropriate prescribing 'cutting lives short'

Sarah Boseley, health editor

Friday June 20, 2008

The use of so-called "chemical cosh" antipsychotic drugs to subdue
people with dementia will be curbed as part of a government strategy
to help the growing numbers of people with the condition.

In an interview with the Guardian the social care minister, Ivan
Lewis, made it clear he was unhappy with the number of dementia
patients, usually in care homes, who are being heavily sedated, with
risks to their health. "I'm really perturbed by this question of the
inappropriate prescribing of drugs," he said. "We sometimes dehumanise
stories like this - it is my or your mum and dad who is being
over-medicated."