[Use of benzodiazepines and related drugs in social security for older adults in Argentina].

The clinical use of benzodiazepines (BZD) and related drugs is a controversial issue, especially prolonged prescription in older adults, which is contrary to general recommendations. Our objective was to describe the use of BZD and the hypnotics called Z drugs (zolpidem, zopiclone and eszopiclone) in elderly beneficiaries of the National Institute of Social Services for Retirees and Pensioners (INSSJP-PAMI) of Argentina. An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional drug use study was conducted based on the Institute's drug dispensing database.

[Reduction of social coverage for symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis: a disinvestment initiative in Argentina, 2015-2017].

In April 2016, the National Institute of Social Services for Retirees and Pensioners discontinued its policy of 100% coverage for 159 drugs (the "social subsidy"), including symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOAs), due to insufficient evidence of significant clinical benefit. We evaluated the effect of this measure on the use of SYSADOAs as well as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which were unaffected by this policy change. We compared outpatient dispensations of SYSADOAs and NSAIDs from 2015 to 2017, measuring dispensed units, retail price, and out-of-pocket expenses for beneficiaries each month.

[Quaternary prevention: An attempt to avoid the excesses of Medicine].

Seduced by technology, biometrics, practical guidelines and the use of medication, medicine has been driven away from the subject of its care. Quaternary prevention is, among other voices around the world, trying to denounce the consequent excesses of medical practice given by this situation. There are visible excesses, such as the long list of studies being performed on patients without indication, and others, much more subtle, as excessive prevention and the continuous and progressive medicalization of life itself that are rooted in our culture and demanded by a society that requests certainty at almost any cost.

[QUATERNARY PREVENTION: AN ATTEMPT TO AVOID THE EXCESSES OF MEDICINE].

Seduced by technology, biometrics, practical guidelines and the use of medication, medicine has been driven away from the subject of its care. Quaternary prevention is, among other voices around the world, trying to denounce the consequent excesses of medical practice given by this situation. There are visible excesses, such as the long list of studies being performed on patients without indication, and others, much more subtle, as excessive prevention and the continuous and progressive medicalization of life itself that are rooted in our culture and demanded by a society that requests certainty at almost any cost.