The Food and Drug Administration warned doctors Monday that prescribing a certain group of psychiatric drugs to seniors suffering from dementia can increase their risk of death. Anti-psychotic drugs are approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disease, but doctors frequently prescribe them to treat elderly patients with dementia. FDA's announcement was an update to a 2005 action, when regulators added warnings about increased heart attacks and pneumonia to drugs called aytpical antipsychotics. The medicines include blockbusters like Eli Lilly & Co.'s Zyprexa and Johnson & Johnson' Risperdal.

FDA said Monday those same risks apply to 11 older drugs known as conventional antipsychotics, including thorazine and prolixin. The drugs were developed in the 1950s and have largely been replaced by the newer medications, which are believed to have fewer side effects, such as tremors.

Analysts did not expect the announcement to negatively impact drug company earnings because the original antipsychotics are available as low-cost generics.

Federal officials have repeatedly urged doctors not to medicate seniors unnecessarily. Despite such warnings, health professionals continue to prescribe psychiatric drugs "off-label," or for uses that have not been approved by FDA. About 20 percent of seniors in nursing homes who receive antipsychotics do not have psychiatric problems, according to data released by Medicare earlier this year.

While FDA regulates the approval and marketing of drugs, doctors are free to use their own judgment when prescribing drugs.

The agency stressed there is "no approved drug for the treatment of dementia-related psychosis," and recommended doctors consider other treatment options.

"A lot of the things can be done to help change one's environment so elderly patients can be more oriented and engaged," said Dr. Eric Hollander, a Professor at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

Many of the behavioral problems seen in seniors can be improved by setting simple, daily routines that patients can follow, Hollander said.

Written By MATTHEW PERRONE

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