Medicating distress: Risky sedative prescriptions for older adults vary widely

(Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan) A new study shows wide variation in prescriptions of sedative drugs, called benzodiazepines, to people with Medicare coverage. Some counties, especially in southern and rural western states, had three times the level of sedative prescribing as others. The study also highlights gaps at the level of individual prescribers: Some primary care providers prescribed sedatives more than six times more often than their peers. These high-intensity prescribers also tended to be high-intensity prescribers of opioid painkillers.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news