MedPage Today (10/15, George) reports a study found that “older adults with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia who were newly prescribed benzodiazepines or antipsychotic drugs in hospice had higher mortality than those who didn’t get the drugs.” Researchers observed that “starting either benzodiazepines or antipsychotic drugs in hospice was tied to a higher 180-day mortality compared with nonuse.” The findings “were consistent across propensity score-weighted models and as cumulative exposure increased,” which highlight the “need for careful prescribing decisions and dementia-specific hospice prescribing guidelines, the researchers noted.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.  Psychiatric News (10/15) adds that “researchers found that patients who had begun taking benzodiazepines and antipsychotics had a 41% and a 16% increased risk of dying within 180 days, respectively, compared with their matched peers who did not start the medications. The increased mortality risk remained significant when only including adults with a primary diagnosis of ADRD or only including those taking neither medication upon entering hospice.” (SOURCE: APA Headlines)