American Geriatrics Society

There's actually an entire set of medical guidelines devoted to this.

If you didn't know, the American Geriatric Society maintains what are called the BEERS criteria.

B-E-E-R-S.

A list of meds that deserve special caution or are often best avoided in older adults under certain circumstances.

I'll start today's podcast with a question.

Have you heard of the kids list? I think most of us are familiar with the beers criteria or beers list from the American Geriatric Society, which highlights medications that are potentially inappropriate for older adults.

The kids list, which stands for key potentially inappropriate drugs and pediatrics, maybe a bit less well-known, but has a similar premise.

It's a list of drugs or excipients that should be avoided or used with caution and in all or a subset of pediatric patients.

Two other things I want to ask you before we turn you loose.

One is the American Society of Geriatrics, the beer criteria, goes around fire and brimstone.

The second you hit age 65, that's it, buster.

No more benzos for you.

What do you have to say to the American Society of Geriatrics?

Funny you should ask.

I might have an opinion about that.

Mark Beers in 1991 when he defined inappropriate prescribing of medication as those drugs whose risks really do outweigh the benefits, namely as it relates to the geriatric population.

So over the years, this list has evolved and is regularly revised and updated by the American Geriatrics Society.

So why is this important? So while older adults will still be prescribed medications that are on the Beers list You want to be aware of these so that it kind of clues you in to be extra hypervigilant with these patients, really keeping a close eye on the adverse effects that they could have.

A cross-sectional study conducted in 2020 looked at the healthcare costs of this, what we call inappropriate prescribing, and determined that more than seven billion doses of potentially inappropriate medication were dispensed in the year 2018, and that accounted for significant healthcare costs and potentially harmful results.

Scotland even publishes standalone polypharmacy guidance with a seven-step review process inside of it.

The American Geriatrics Society maintains the Beers criteria and a running list of medications that's potentially inappropriate in older or elderly adults.

And Ireland gave us the stop and start criteria for what to consider stopping and what might be missing in these medication protocols.

Nobody builds four national frameworks or international frameworks for a rare event.

Scotland even publishes standalone polypharmacy guidance with seven-step review processes inside of it.

The American Geriatrics Society maintains the Beers Criteria, which is a running list of medications that are potentially inappropriate in the elderly.

And Ireland gave us the STOPP and START criteria, that's STOPP with two Ps, for what people consider stopping and what medications might be missing.

Nobody builds four national frameworks for a rare event that just happens on occasion or by circumstance.