Medicare Patients With Dementia Get Risky Drugs. 6 Questions Families Should Ask

More than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries have dementia, and about one in four of them are prescribed antipsychotics or other brain-altering drugs—often without a documented reason, according to a KFF Health News investigation shared with NPR. The estimate is based on a JAMA study: UCLA researchers reviewed five drug classes for older adults in traditional Medicare from 2013 through 2021, finding about 25% of people with dementia were on such medications. Nursing homes remain a focus. Federal data cited by KFF found that, excluding residents with schizophrenia, about one in seven nursing home residents received an antipsychotic in 2025. The FDA requires boxed warnings due to higher death risk in dementia-related psychosis.