The Deprescribing Handbook: Evidence-Based Tapering Protocols, Drug-Class Reviews, and Decision Tools for Prescribers Pharmacists

Stop the Right Medicines, Safely and With ConfidenceOlder and multimorbid adults take more medicines than any other group, and for many the balance of benefit and harm has quietly shifted. Recognizing that a patient is overmedicated is the easy part. Knowing which medicine to stop first, how fast to taper it, and what to say to a patient who is afraid to change anything is where most reviews stall.The Deprescribing Handbook closes that gap. It is a practical, evidence-based reference that helps prescribers and pharmacists decide what to stop, when, and how - built for rapid point-of-care use, not just cover-to-cover reading.Twenty-five chapters work class by class through the medicines most often continued past their usefulness, spanning central nervous system, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, genitourinary, analgesic, and other commonly used drug groups. Each chapter delivers: - Clear criteria for who to deprescribe and who to leave alone- Step-by-step tapering protocols, with stop-versus-taper guidance- Monitoring, withdrawal, and restart criteria- Decision algorithms, color-coded reference tables, and patient-communication scriptsA toolkit of six appendices distills the whole book into quick reference: a master taper-schedule table, an anticholinergic-burden scorer, a step-by-step medication-review workflow, and a universal decision algorithm - all grounded in landmark trials and major guidelines including the AGS Beers Criteria and STOPP/START.Written for physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician associates, and trainees in family medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics, and clinical pharmacy. This handbook is a professional reference to support clinical judgment, not a substitute for individualized patient care.A clear, current, and clinically grounded companion for the everyday work of deprescribing...Add The Deprescribing Handbook to your library today and bring a structured, confident approach to every medication review.