And it's not cheap, either.

Here's an article that addresses additional consequences of multiple morbidity:

"Burden of Common Multiple-Morbidity Constellations on Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenditures Among Older Adults" (The Gerontologist, 2007).

"Implications: Increasing rates of multiple morbidities in conjunction with escalating health care costs and stable or declining incomes among elders warrant creative attention from providers, researchers, and policy makers. Further understanding how specific multiple-morbidity constellations impact out-of-pocket spending moves us closer to effective interventions to support vulnerable elders."

It's called Multiple Morbidity.

For a few years now, I have been concerned by what seemed my 82-year-old Aunt's either over-medication and/or conflicting prescriptions by three different doctors. She had several health problems, and seemed to sometime walk around gingerly and in somewhat of a fog...was this the solution or the problem?

Various medications made her dizzy or otherwise did not sit well with her. She had regular appointments with her internist, cardiologist, and neurologist -- but often called to tell a doctor's representative that she had a problem. Often, prescriptions were altered verbally, which may or may not have helped and certainly caused some confusion when drugs were reordered with previous directions still on the bottles. "Oh, he told me to only take one a day."

Then came a couple of hospital stays, followed by rehab places. The primary doctor would prescribed a bunch of stuff, which she came home with; but those drugs did not jive with previous prescriptions even by that same doctor! Need I say more?

An article which appeared in The New York Times on March 31st affirmed my concerns and showed that there is much to be done before the issue of "multiple morbidity" (when a person has multiple medical conditions) is properly addressed: "Treating an Illness Is One Thing. What About a Person With Many?" Please read it and join the discussion!