Public health experts have warned of the perils of falls for older people for decades. “Older adults are heavily medicated, increasingly so, and with drugs that are inappropriate for older people,” Farley said in an interview. “The drugs that increase falls’ mortality are those that make you drowsy or dizzy,” he said. “They know not to give older people Valium.”Moreover, prescriptions for some fall-related drugs have already declined or hit plateaus, even as death rates because of falls have risen. He urged older patients to raise the issue of FRIDs themselves, if their doctors haven’t.