3 or 4 medications really isn't that much if someone has a chronic disease such as diabetes, cardiac, or copd. It's not unusual to have multiple meds treating a condition. I had a patient the other day who was 92 on only 3 meds. They were maintenance meds for conditions that were well controlled. He was one of the ones with a positive attitude and I was shocked to see he was 92. The patients that I consider worse are the ones who have a back ache and want a muscle relaxer, a pain med, then their stomach is upset so they get prilosec...on and on until literally I have patients on 20 or more medications.
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