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To the Editor: In his Editorial about inappropriate prescription of drugs for elderly patients, Dr Avorn¹ implied that a now well known list of contraindicated drugs² can be used to study this phenomenon. Granted, most physicians would agree that propoxyphene and many of the other medications on this list are not optimal choices for elderly patients. However, this approach overlooks the possibility that appropriate medications used inappropriately are at least as dangerous as inappropriate medications used at all. Nonetheless, we agree with Avorn that it is time to stop describing the problem and start doing something about it, and that "a higher standard is needed." What Avorn has overlooked is that such a higher standard exists. The Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI), which can be used to evaluate the appropriateness of medication use in individual patients,^3-4 has been found to improve the appropriateness of medication prescribing and possibly reduce adverse drug . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED LETTER

Improving Drug Use in Elderly Patients: Getting to the Next Level
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JAMA. 2001;286(22):2866-2868.
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Improving Drug Use in Elderly Patients: Getting to the Next Level
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JAMA. 2001;286(22):2866-2868.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

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