A KFF Health News investigation published Sept. 30 traced how a Michigan family clashed with a memory care facility over sedating drugs for their 85-year-old mother. The case is drawing fresh attention to a question many families never think to ask: which drugs are being used to calm a relative with dementia, and why?
Antipsychotics such as olanzapine (Zyprexa) carry an FDA boxed warning, the agency's strongest, because older adults with dementia who take them face a higher chance of death, according to MedlinePlus. The drugs are not approved to treat dementia-related psychosis. Even so, a 2023 study cited by KFF Health News found that assisted living residents with dementia were prescribed an antipsychotic for 13% of the time they lived there.