If you’re retired on the Suncoast, or you’re the one managing your parents’ appointments, there’s a document you should know about. The Beers Criteria, published by the American Geriatrics Society, lists about 100 medications that may be risky for older adults. Not because the drugs are dangerous on their own, but because aging bodies metabolize them differently. The list gets updated every three years, and it’s one of the most useful tools in geriatric care.
How pills are taken matters just as much. A pill with a score line down the middle can usually be cut. A pill without one shouldn’t be, no matter how good your pill cutter is, because the medication isn’t distributed evenly through the tablet. Crushing a time-release medication is even riskier, since the whole day’s dose can hit at once. That’s how a routine morning becomes a fall or a trip to the emergency room.
Here’s the most important part: this list is not a reason to stop taking anything. Many physicians outside geriatric specialties have never heard of the Beers Criteria, which is exactly why patients and caregivers should bring it up. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a full medication review at your next visit, and bring your list, or your parent’s list, with you. Fear from a social media post doesn’t help. A good question at the doctor’s office does.
Have you ever asked your doctor to review all your medications at once? Tell us how it went.
