Health Trends Health Trends Health Trends

The 2015 Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults

By the American Geriatrics Society 2015 Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel


For more than 20 years, the Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults has been the leading source of information about the safety of prescribing drugs for older people. To help prevent medication side effects and other drug-related problems in older adults, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) has updated and expanded this important resource. The expanded AGS Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults identifies medications with risks that may be greater than their benefits for people 65 and older.

Why Experts Developed the Beers Criteria

As you get older, your body changes. These changes can increase the chances that you’ll have side effects when you take medications. Older people usually have more health problems and take more medications than younger people. Because of this, they are also more likely to experience dangerous drug-drug interactions. Every year, one in three adults 65 or older has one or more adverse (harmful) reactions to a medication or medications. This is why it’s important for researchers to identify and help reduce use of drugs that are associated with more risks than benefits in older people.

Download the AGS Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults |

View all posts