Beers Criteria: What Every Older Adult and Caregiver Needs to Know

When you’re over 65, your body handles medicine differently. That’s why the Beers Criteria, a regularly updated list of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults. Also known as the AGS Beers Criteria, it’s used by doctors, pharmacists, and caregivers to spot drugs that do more harm than good in seniors. It’s not about banning medications—it’s about replacing risky ones with safer choices. Many of these drugs were fine when you were 40, but now they can cause falls, confusion, kidney damage, or even hospitalization.

The polypharmacy, the use of multiple medications at once. Also known as multiple drug use, it’s common in older adults managing arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, or sleep issues. But when you’re taking five or more pills, the chance of bad interactions skyrockets. The Beers Criteria, a regularly updated list of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults. Also known as the AGS Beers Criteria, it’s used by doctors, pharmacists, and caregivers to spot drugs that do more harm than good in seniors. flags specific drugs like benzodiazepines for sleep, anticholinergics for overactive bladder, and certain NSAIDs that increase fall risk. These aren’t just warnings—they’re red flags backed by real data from clinical studies.

Some of the most dangerous drugs on the list aren’t even prescription-only. Over-the-counter sleep aids, cold medicines with diphenhydramine, and even some herbal supplements can throw off your balance or fog your mind. The geriatric pharmacology, the study of how medications affect older adults. Also known as aging and drug response, it’s a field that’s changed dramatically in the last decade. We now know that liver and kidney function slow down with age, meaning drugs stick around longer and build up to toxic levels. That’s why a dose that was safe at 50 can be dangerous at 75.

What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t just theory. Each article tackles real-world cases: how a common painkiller raised an elderly patient’s blood pressure, why a sleep aid caused confusion in someone with early dementia, and how switching from one drug to another cut hospital visits in half. You’ll see how caregivers used the Beers Criteria to question a doctor’s prescription, how pharmacists helped reduce pill burden without losing symptom control, and what alternatives actually work—like physical therapy instead of muscle relaxants, or melatonin instead of benzodiazepines.

This isn’t about fear. It’s about control. Knowing the Beers Criteria means you can ask the right questions. It means you won’t be told, "This is just part of aging," when a drug is actually making things worse. The tools are here. The data is clear. What you do next matters more than ever.