Potentially inappropriate prescribing disproportionately impacts mature women, who generally experience more chronic conditions

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By: Dr. Paula Rochon

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Your doctor prescribes medication for high blood pressure. A few weeks later, you notice your ankles are swollen. It’s interpreted as a new condition, and you’re prescribed a diuretic to help your body eliminate excess fluids. You then experience dizziness and are prescribed yet another drug. Before long, you’re taking multiple medications when you may have only ever needed one.

This is a prescribing cascade, and if you’re an older woman, you’re caught in instances of potentially inappropriate prescribing more often than men.

Over two decades ago, I, along with Dr. Jerry Gurwitz, described the “prescribing cascade” framework to bring attention to this dangerous domino effect that often goes unrecognized. While........

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