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Phony Diagnoses Hide High Rates of Drugging at Nursing Homes



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The handwritten doctor’s order was just eight words long, but it solved a problem for Dundee Manor, a nursing home in rural South Carolina struggling to handle a new resident with severe dementia.David Blakeney, 63, was restless and agitated. The home’s doctor wanted him on an antipsychotic medication called Haldol, a powerful sedative.“Add Dx of schizophrenia for use of Haldol,” read the doctor’s order, using the medical shorthand for “diagnosis.”But there was no evidence that Mr. Blakeney actually had schizophrenia.Antipsychotic drugs — which for decades have faced criticism as “chemical straitjackets” — are dangerous for older …

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