Trending News Today: Huge Number of Nursing Home Residents Taking Antipsychotics for Dementia

Community health centers are expected to receive funding for 2 years under a stopgap spending bill that will be proposed in the House this week, according to The Hill. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) said that the bill would provide several billions of dollars in funding to health centers and extend a number of expiring health care programs, according to the article. Although community health centers are supported by both parties, broader budget conflicts have prevented them from gaining funding.

A recent study found that an overwhelming 179,000 nursing home residents are taking antipsychotics, despite not having schizophrenia or other mental illnesses that those drugs are intended to treat, NPR reported. A majority of these individuals have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, which are conditions that antipsychotics are not approved to treat. In fact, the FDA issued a black box warning stating that antipsychotics increase the risk of death among patients with dementia, according to the article.

More than 2500 chemical sites are located in flood-prone areas in the United States, according to an analysis conducted by The New York Times. As the risk of flooding increases, so too does the risk of toxic spills from chemical plants. Flooding is likely to worsen due to climate change, heavy rainfall, rising sea levels, and more frequent coastal storms, according to the Times. The devastating effects of flooding and the subsequent adverse events from toxic spills were experienced by residents of Texas during Hurricane Harvey, the article noted.

For further coverage from the fields of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, check out Specialty Pharmacy Times' sister site, NeurologyLive. The site's condition center serves as a resource for the latest clinical news, articles, videos, and the most recently released data.