State sponsored drug pushing

Silent Voices

It's not youngsters injecting themselves with heroin that is Britain's greatest drug problem. There is an invisible abuse of far greater proportions.

The ninth of the Back Bencher's 10 commandments says, "Neglect the rich, the obsessed and the articulate, and seek out the silent voices". There are no voices quieter than those of people who are in residential homes for the elderly. On Monday Panorama will raise again the vast overuse of chemical cosh of neuroleptic drugs on the elderly.

In a Commons debate in 2002, I recalled raising the subject in 2000, and , and every year from 1994 to 1999. The 1998 EDM said

"That this House is shocked by the evidence from the Alzheimers Disease Society and Age Concern on the dangers of the over-medication of the elderly; is alarmed by reports that up to one in five admissions to hospital of the elderly are caused by the misuse of medicines and by investigations in England and Scotland that found that 70% of of prescriptions of powerful neuroleptic drugs to elderly residents in homes were wrongly prescribed".

Each time, I have raised this issue in Parliament, other MPs from both sides come up to me and say that what I have described happened to their relatives. The stories are very similar. Their loved ones went into homes, reluctantly, because they were physically frail but sharp mentally.  Within a short time, they were turned into zombies. People in that condition are easy to manage. Many prescriptions of neuroleptic drugs are given not because of medical conditions but because it is much easier to run a home full of passive supine people who will take orders easily than a home full of argumentative independent people. It is certainly  much cheaper because fewer staff are needed.

The results for the elderly  are catastrophic. Some do not have relatives, Others have relatives who are indifferent to their plight. Few are listening. Panorama tells the story of a loving relative, shocked at the casual institutionalised abuse.  There have been some minor improvements over the years that have resulted in marginal changes. Although I have actively campaigned on this issue in every one of the 20 years I have been in parliament, progress has been small.

Solutions are available. In a trial in Manchester some 10 years ago was very successful. Prescriptions were greatly reduced.  Elderly people used milder medicines in lower doses. Not only were their lives improved, but they made connections with members of staff and other residents. They were healthier and lived longer. Although financial savings were not an aim of the study, costs were also cut.

It will be a dispiriting experience watching on Monday. I fear that Panorama will reveal that hundreds of thousands of elderly people still end their days prematurely in  drug-induced misery and confusion. Perhaps more consciences can be stirred.