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KFF Health News reported on Sept. 30 that older adults and caregivers should ask clinicians to review whether each medication remains appropriate. The report cited a physician’s warning about side effects among people taking multiple prescriptions, while noting that research and patients’ needs can change over time.
A KFF Health News report discussed on WAMU’s Health Hub on Sept. 30 urged older adults and caregivers to ask clinicians whether every prescribed medicine is still needed and appropriate. The advice comes as prescriptions can accumulate over time, creating combinations that may cause side effects or intolerance, according to physician K. Eric De Jonge.
De Jonge, director of geriatrics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, said the risk of an adverse effect rises among people taking several prescription medicines. “Once you get to six or seven prescription medications, you get a nearly 100% chance of some sort of side effect or intolerance,” he said. The source does not provide details about the evidence or population behind that estimate, so it should be understood as his attributed statement rather than a universal risk calculation.
Paula Span, who writes “The New Old Age” for The New York Times and KFF Health News, joined the Sept. 30 WAMU program to discuss medications that some older patients may overuse, including aspirin and benzodiazepines. The report says prescriptions that are no longer necessary can interact with other medicines and contribute to concerning side effects. It does not identify specific patient cases or quantify how often those problems occur.
Span said prescriptions are based on the evidence available when they are made, but that evidence can change. Patients may also continue a medicine out of habit without revisiting whether they still need it. The report’s practical recommendation is to check with a doctor, and to be proactive about raising medication questions with a clinician.
Medication Reviews Can Catch Changing Needs
For older adults taking multiple prescriptions, a review can help bring the full medication list into one conversation. A medicine may have been appropriate when first prescribed, yet a patient’s health, other treatments, or the available evidence may change. Reviewing the combination gives patients, caregivers, and clinicians a chance to discuss whether each prescription remains suitable.
The report places responsibility on both clinicians and patients: doctors should keep current with research and consider the overall mix, while patients and caregivers can ask questions rather than assume a long-standing prescription is still necessary. That does not mean patients should stop medicines on their own. Decisions about changing or discontinuing a prescription should be discussed with the prescribing clinician.
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How Prescriptions Accumulate Over Time
The report describes a pattern in which medications build up as people age. Some prescriptions may continue after the original reason for taking them has changed, while additional medicines are introduced. Taken together, the drugs can produce side effects or intolerance, according to De Jonge’s comments in the report.
Span’s point is that medical evidence does not stand still. A prescription reflects what was known when it was made, and patients may not routinely question medicines they have taken for a long time. The WAMU discussion focused on older patients and included aspirin and benzodiazepines as examples of common medications some may be overusing; it did not give a patient-specific assessment or a list of medicines everyone should avoid.
“Once you get to six or seven prescription medications, you get a nearly 100% chance of some sort of side effect or intolerance.”
— K. Eric De Jonge, director of geriatrics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center
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The Scale of Medication Risks Is Unspecified
The source material does not specify the year of the Sept. 30 broadcast, provide links to research supporting De Jonge’s estimate, or explain how the quoted risk varies by medication, health condition, or individual patient. It also does not say how many people are affected by problematic medication combinations.
The report does not identify particular prescriptions that should be stopped or changed, and it offers no individual medical recommendations. Whether a medicine remains appropriate depends on a patient’s circumstances and requires discussion with a qualified clinician.
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Patients Can Request a Medication Review
The next step for a patient or caregiver with concerns is to ask the prescribing clinician to review the current medication list, including prescriptions that have been taken for a long time. The report does not announce a new policy, study, or scheduled follow-up; it presents the review as an ongoing conversation that patients and clinicians can have as needs and evidence change.
Patients should discuss any proposed change with a clinician before altering a prescription. The source does not specify a timetable for reviews or a standard process that clinics should follow.
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Key Questions
What is the report’s main recommendation?
Ask a clinician to review whether each medicine in an older adult’s current medication mix is still appropriate.
What did the physician say about taking six or seven prescriptions?
K. Eric De Jonge said people taking that many prescription medicines have a nearly 100% chance of some side effect or intolerance. The source does not explain the estimate’s evidence or scope.
Did the report tell patients to stop any specific medicine?
No. It discussed aspirin and benzodiazepines as examples of medications some older patients may overuse, but it did not advise everyone to stop them. Patients should discuss medication changes with a clinician.
Why review a prescription that has been taken for years?
The report says medical evidence and patients’ needs can change, while people may continue medicines out of habit without asking whether they are still needed.
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