Beers revised: Drugs not to use in older adults

Abstract

Older adults are generally characterized as patients who may be at an increased risk for adverse drug events because of altered pharmacokinetics, increased exposure to multiple concomitant medications, and comorbid conditions. In 1991, Mark Beers, MD, and colleagues published criteria listing "potentially inappropriate medications" for older patients. Updates to these criteria were subsequently published in 1997, 2003, and earlier this year in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society . The revised 2012 version heralds a new partnership between an interdisciplinary panel of experts and the American Geriatrics Society.