Recently we have been mourning the passing of a giant in the field of geriatrics and gerontology. Mark Beers, MD, well known for his editorship of the Merck Manuals on Geriatrics; Health and Aging; and other topics, as well as his research revealing the dangerous side effects of psychoactive medications in the elderly, died on February 28. You can read his obituary in the New York Times.
Mark will be missed by all of us who hope to improve medical care for older adults. In 1991, he created the Beers Criteria, a list of pharmaceuticals that have problematic side effects in older adults. He and several colleagues updated the list in 2003. This list has had a significant impact on the quality of medical care that older adults receive: nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals throughout the world regularly consult the list when making prescribing decisions for their older patients.
In addition to his extensive work on prescription medications and older adults, Mark was a champion of geriatrics education. He served on the advisory board of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University, as well as the president of the board of directors of the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), a nonprofit that funds the research of promising investigators specializing in aging. He taught geriatrics at Drexel Medical School in Philadelphia, PA.
Mark was a strong supporter of the Hartford Foundation and its grantees and was especially interested in our efforts to increase geriatric faculty members and improve the use of medications in older adults. We will all miss his intellect, commitment, and compassion.