Center Attorney Toby Edelman Testifies at Senate Aging Hearing About Overuse of Antipsychotic Drugs in Nursing Facilities

On November 30, 2011, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing entitled "Overprescribed: The Human and Taxpayers' Costs of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes." This hearing was held largely in response to a May 2011 report issued by the Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG) that, based on a review of Medicare claims data for 6 months in 2007, concluded "[i]n total, 95 percent (nearly 1.4 million) of Medicare claims for atypical antipsychotic drugs were for elderly nursing home residents diagnosed with off-label conditions and/or the condition specified in … boxed warning[s]."[1]

Following testimony from OIG and CMS, CMA Senior Policy Attorney Toby Edelman testified as a witness on a panel of experts on long-term care issues. In her testimony, Ms. Edelman, among other things: noted that this problem is a long-standing one (this Committee issued a report on the misuse of drugs in nursing homes in 1975 and held a workshop on reducing the use of chemical restraints in nursing homes in 1991); pointed out that the federal Nursing Home Reform Law prohibits the antipsychotic drug practices that we see in too many nursing homes, although the law is not adequately enforced; highlighted some of the reasons antipsychotics are inappropriately prescribed and the high costs of these drugs; and outlined some solutions to this problem. Ms. Edelman's written testimony is available at http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/2011/12/toby-edelman-testifies-before-senate-special-committee-regarding-antipsychotics-in-nursing-homes/. Also see previous Alerts written on this subject.[2]

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[1] Office of Inspector General, Medicare Atypical Antipsychotic Drug Claims for Elderly Nursing Home Residents, OEI-07-08-00150, pages 14-18 (April 2011), http://www.oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-08-00150.pdf. Also see previous CMA Alert discussing this OIG report: "Real Solutions to Save Medicare Dollars in Skilled Nursing Facilities" (June 30, 2011), available at: http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/2011/06/real-solutions-to-
save-medicare-dollars-in-skilled-nursing-facilities/
[2] "Reducing Antipsychotic Drug Use in Nursing Homes: Save Residents' Lives, Save Medicare Billions of Dollars" (March 17, 2011) available at:
http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/2011/03/reducing-antipsychotic-drug-
use-in-nursing-homes-save-residents-lives-save-medicare-billions-of-dollars/; "Off-Label Drug Use is Common and Hurts Nursing Home Residents" (March 25, 2010), available at:
http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/InfoByTopic/SkilledNursingFacility
/10_03.25.OffLabelDrugUse.htm.