The Ongoing Dilemma on the Use of Antipsychotics to Manage the Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia.

For over a decade now, the ongoing dilemma on whether to use antipsychotics to manage the behavioral symptoms of dementia is still being discussed, since we have yet to come to a consensus of what is best for these patients. The article by Greenblatt and Greenblatt (Article first published online: 29 APR 2016 DOI: 10.1002/jcph.731) exemplifies this dilemma. After non-pharmacological treatments are tried and either failed or provided suboptimal results, what is a nursing home practitioner to do for those numerous patients with behavioral symptoms associated with dementia? The FDA boxed warnings about the increased risk of sudden death associated with the use of antipsychotics in this population is used as "evidence" by attorneys about how patients are being chemically restrained in nursing homes or are being treated inappropriately.(1) As a result, there is substantial information available for clinicians to use on how to mitigate risk when prescribing antipsychotics to dementia patients through the use of consent forms and thorough appropriate documentation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.