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When someone falls, the conversation usually turns to stairs, lighting, and loose rugs. Those matter, but the CDC's own fall prevention framework, STEADI, treats medications as one of the three main things to check, right alongside home hazards and strength or balance. Certain prescriptions, especially sedatives, sleep aids, some blood pressure drugs, opioids, and anti-anxiety medications, can cause dizziness, low blood pressure, or slowed reaction time that raises fall risk on its own.
Most people never connect a fall to a prescription bottle. A free benefit built into Medicare Part D can do that work for you: a pharmacist-led medication review that most retirees never ask for by name.
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Start by finding out if you qualify for a free review and requesting one.
Interactive toolCheck your home while you're at itMedications are one leg of fall risk. Run this scan for the other one, loose rugs, poor lighting, and stairs without handrails, so both get addressed the same week.Show the toolHide the tool
Check the highest-risk rooms, note urgent fixes, and print a room-by-room list.
Know Which Medications Raise Fall Risk
Doctors and pharmacists call these fall risk-increasing drugs, or FRIDs. The list includes sedatives, sleeping pills, some blood pressure and heart medications, opioids, benzodiazepines like alprazolam or diazepam, and certain antidepressants. Taking four or more medications at once, even common ones, also raises risk simply from the number of possible interactions.
None of this means you should stop a medication on your own. It means the combination is worth a second set of eyes before it causes a problem instead of after.
ChecklistMedications worth asking aboutBring this list into your medication review, especially if you chose I've never had a full medication review.Show the checklistHide the checklist
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Ask for Your Free Medication Therapy Management Review
Medicare Part D plans are required to offer Medication Therapy Management, or MTM, to people who meet the plan's eligibility rules, typically several chronic conditions plus several covered drugs. If you qualify, the review is free. A pharmacist or other health care provider goes through everything you take, explains why you take it, and gives you a written summary along with a to-do list and a clean medication list you can carry to every appointment.
You do not need to wait for your plan to reach out first. Call the number on your Part D plan card and ask directly whether you're eligible for a Medication Therapy Management review.
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Bring a Written List to Every Visit, Not Just This One
A medication review is only as good as what happens after it. Keep the written summary and to-do list from your review, and update it yourself whenever a doctor adds or changes a prescription in between reviews. Medication Review Appointment Notes That Actually Help walks through a simple way to keep that list current between visits.
Bring the list to every appointment, every pharmacy pickup, and any emergency room visit. A single accurate list is what lets a new doctor or a pharmacist catch a dangerous combination before it causes a fall instead of explaining one afterward.
TimelineWork it in orderCheck off each step as you finish it.Show the timelineHide the timeline
Include prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and supplements, using the checklist above.
Contact your plan or pharmacy and ask specifically about a Medication Therapy Management review.
Look for anything flagged as a fall risk, and ask your prescribing doctor before stopping anything on your own.
Add new prescriptions the same day they're prescribed, not at your next annual visit.
If a fall already happened, After a Fall: A First-Week Recovery Plan covers what to line up in the days right after, and Fall Recovery Home Setup Plan for Safer Weeks Ahead covers the home side in more depth.
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Common questions
Can medications actually cause falls?
Yes. Certain prescriptions, including sedatives, sleeping pills, some blood pressure and heart medications, opioids, benzodiazepines, and some antidepressants, can cause dizziness, low blood pressure, or slowed reaction time that raises fall risk. The CDC's STEADI fall prevention framework lists medication review as one of the three main things to check, alongside home hazards and strength or balance. Taking 4 or more medications at once also raises risk simply from the number of possible interactions.
What is Medicare's Medication Therapy Management review?
Medication Therapy Management, or MTM, is a benefit Medicare Part D plans must offer to people who meet the plan's eligibility rules, typically several chronic conditions plus several covered drugs. If you qualify, a pharmacist or health care provider reviews everything you take at no cost to you, then gives you a written summary, a to-do list, and a clean medication list. You don't have to wait for your plan to reach out. Call the number on your Part D plan card and ask directly.
How do I know if I'm eligible for a free medication review?
Eligibility rules are set by your specific Part D plan, but they usually require having more than one chronic health condition and taking multiple covered drugs. The only way to know for sure is to call your plan and ask. If you don't qualify this year, ask again after any major medication change.
What should I bring to a medication review?
Bring a written list of every prescription, over-the-counter drug, and supplement you take, including dose and frequency. Note anything that makes you feel dizzy, drowsy, or unsteady, and flag any medication that changed, was added, or was increased in the last 3 months. Keep the written summary from the review afterward and update it yourself whenever a doctor changes a prescription, so the list stays accurate between reviews.
