A Hidden Shame in Nursing Homes

For decades, the law has sought to restrain nursing homes from trying to control the behavior of dementia patients with antipsychotic drugs, which are known to have adverse health effects. An alarming rise in schizophrenia diagnoses suggests some homes have found a way to skirt the rules.We hear the story of David Blakeney, a dementia sufferer whose health declined rapidly after he was placed in a South Carolina nursing home.Guest: Katie Thomas, a reporter covering the business of health care for The New York Times. Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: A Times investigation into the widespread use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.