Reduce antipsychotic drug use in dementia patients by using another drug?

The rampant and dangerous use of antipsychotic drugs to treat dementia symptoms in elderly patients has been in the spotlight recently due to Johnson & Johnson being hit with a $2 billion fine for the false marketing of Risperdal. Could the answer to this disturbing trend be yet another medication?

A drug called Pimavaserin is undergoing a trial right now to examine its safety in treating Alzheimer’s disease psychosis. Currently there is no medication on the market that specifically treats this condition, and we’ve seen the consequences of the off-label use of other antipsychotic drugs. I saw what Risperdal did to my father and readers of this blog were vocal about their concerns in properly medicating those with dementia.

One would hope that a medication can be created to ease the mental and emotional suffering of dementia patients without turning them into walking zombies.