This Research was published in the BMJ on the 17 April 2024 and has been made open access. The paper begins with this summary box:
A decade has passed since this Change Page was published in the BMJ:
What might the medical profession do to prevent a further decade of harm related to the use of antipsychotics in people living with dementia?
- Recognise and acknowledge the failings of the past and the harm that has been caused to patients.
- Stop routinely allowing the conflation of marketing with ‘Continuing Medical Education’ .
- Guidelines that may lead to widespread prescribing will need to acknowledge that short-term evidence has routinely been found to fail to identify the full range of adverse effects of any prescribed medication.
- Robust post-marketing surveillance is essential.