Prescription Drugs and the Elderly: Many Still Receive Potentially Harmful Drugs Despite Recent Improvements

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the elderly's inappropriate use of prescription drugs, focusing on: (1) whether the inappropriate use of prescription drugs by the elderly is widely viewed as a serious health problem; (2) the ways prescription drugs are used inappropriately and why these situations occur; (3) how public knowledge of prescription drugs can be improved; and (4) how emerging trends in health care delivery affect drug prescribing for the elderly.