Which action describes removing unnecessary medications to reduce polypharmacy risks?

• A. Beers Criteria
• B. Deprescribing
• C. Polypharmacy
• D. Adverse Drug Reaction

Answer: (B)

Deprescribing is the intentional process of reducing or stopping medications that may no longer be beneficial or may pose more risk than benefit, especially in older adults with multiple medicines. It starts with a careful review of every drug—considering why it was started, whether it’s still helpful, and what risks it carries—then creates a plan to taper or discontinue, with close monitoring for withdrawal, symptom return, or rebound effects. This approach directly targets reducing polypharmacy by removing unnecessary medications and lowering the likelihood of adverse drug events, drug interactions, and treatment burden. Beers Criteria is a guideline to identify potentially inappropriate meds, but it’s a tool, not the action of removing meds. Polypharmacy describes having many medications, not the process of reducing them. An adverse drug reaction is harm from a drug, not the process of stopping or tapering meds.