According to the “Daily Dose” by Dr. William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., the sedation of nursing home residents can result in an increased risk of bone breakage down the road.
In his most recent article, Dr. Douglass recognizes that in most nursing homes, “Lights our means lights out, even if that means mixing sleeping pills into the punch to make it happen. Snoozing seniors are much easier to care for — and when they’re easier to care for — they’re cheaper to care for.”
Dr. Douglas goes on to state that common sleep meds such as Ambien, Lunesta, and Sonata can increase your risk of cracking your hip like a twig, leading the odds ratio of having a hip fracture among seniors in care facilities to increase to 1.9, according to a new analysis of more than 1 million Medicare patients. That’s for new users of the meds. Take them for a while and the increase falls until it’s “only” 70 percent overall — but that’s still about 70 percent higher than it should be.
A fractured hip isn’t just a serious injury for seniors. It’s a world of pain followed by limited mobility and even permanent disability — and seniors who suffer those bad breaks face a higher risk of death in the months that follow.
But you don’t have to be in a nursing home to want to pass on sleep meds, because bone breaks are nothing compared to some of the other risks that come with these drugs. In one study the risk of death was a staggering 5 times higher for those taking the most sleeping pills when compared to those who hadn’t popped any of the pills.
Dr. Douglas goes on to recommend that many facilities and individuals should explore natural alternatives before reaching for a prescription sleep aid to catch some zzzzzz’s.
If you suspect that your loved one at a nursing home is being wrongfully sedated, make a complaint to the nursing home administrator. You may also pursue legal action.
