What’s for Dinner? A Case of Polypharmacy Induced Weight loss

The complications arising from polypharmacy in older adults have been well described in literature. Increasing numbers of prescriptions have led to poor health outcomes, including increasing frailty, loss of independence and worsening nutritional status. While historically polypharmacy implies multiple prescribers and pharmacies, here we present a case of a patient from a long-term care facility, whose single-prescriber prescription cascade over the course of 2 years resulted in 30 active prescriptions and a subsequent unintentional weight loss of 50 pounds over the course of a single year.