In a recent post, I wrote about how “Big Pharma,” or pharmaceutical companies, have been pushing antipsychotic medications on nursing home residents as a method of making individuals who suffer from dementia more “manageable” for facilities who don’t have adequate staff or properly trained staff. Apparently, nursing homes are worried about the bad publicity.

In an article in The Hill: “Nursing homes are promising to reduce their use of antipsychotic medications on dementia patients 25 percent by 2016 and 30 percent by 2017.”  The questions are: (1) Is that “enough” of a reduction; and (2) With the amount of money involved, can we actually trust the nursing home industry to make the cuts?

The Hill article quotes Patrick Conway, chief medical officer with Medicare and Medicaid: “We know that many of the diagnoses in nursing home residents do not merit antipsychotics, but they were being used anyway.” If even one redident suffereing from dementia receives antipsychotic medication in an effort to control their behavior…that is too many. Shouldn’t the goal be “Zero tolerance”?

The amount of money made by Big Pharma in this area is staggering. My original post mentioned the $2.2 billion fine leveled by the federal government against Johnson & Johnson in 2013 for pushing antipsychotics to nursing homes to use on residents suffereing from dementia. Although not mentioned in my original post, this was not the first time Big Pharma had been fined. In fact, the AARP reports: “Back in 2009, Eli Lilly did the same thing with its antipsychotic Zyprexa, marketing to older people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, federal prosecutors charged. In a settlement, the company agreed to pay $1.4 billion. At the time, Patrick Doyle, special agent in charge of the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Philadelphia, said: “This case should serve as still another warning to all those who break the law in order to improve their profits.”

I may have a very jaded view, but here it is: There’s simply too much money to be made by Big Pharma for companies to give up this lucrative albeit illegal market. A $1.4 billion fine on a competitor wasn’t enough of a fine to prevent Johnson & Johnson from going down this path. Big Pharma is in the business of making money…the companies will do anything to improve their bottom line.

I do not expect this is the last you will hear from me about this issue.