AI Deprescribing Advisor

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE: Under NO circumstances should you STOP or WITHDRAW your medication until you have discussed the report with your doctor*
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Deprescribing is the safe and effective process of reducing or stopping medications that are no longer helpful or that may be causing harm. Medications are often started for a good reason, but sometimes they are continued long after they stop providing benefit — and may even cause adverse effects. Deprescribing involves slowly and carefully cutting down on unnecessary medications with the help of a healthcare professional.

Many people, particularly older adults, take multiple medications at the same time. Some of these may no longer be necessary, may interact with other drugs, or may carry a higher risk of side effects than benefit. Deprescribing helps ensure every medication a person takes is still working in their best interest.

Some medications may be deprescribed because they provide no meaningful benefit — for example, certain stool softeners, supplements, and vitamins. Others may be deprescribed because they carry dangerous adverse effects or because long-term use can cause health problems.

Some medical conditions also do not need to be as tightly controlled with age — for example, it is possible to deprescribe some medications for diabetes, cholesterol, or high blood pressure when the clinical picture changes over time.

Taking fewer medications could help you feel better for several reasons. Deprescribing may:

The final decision to deprescribe a medication must only be made by your supervising doctor — never by you alone. Your doctor may decide that some medications can be safely stopped immediately. Others need to be slowly decreased, or “tapered”, a bit at a time. Tapering helps your body adjust to not taking a medication, preventing withdrawal effects. The AI Deprescribing Advisor generates a report for your doctor that guides them on exactly how to do this safely.

The NowPatient AI Deprescribing Advisor is a free AI consultation tool built on a chat interface that has been highly trained on rigorous, evidence-based clinical deprescribing protocols. It communicates with you in natural language to evaluate whether any of your medications are suitable candidates for deprescribing.

If deprescribing is recommended, it generates a comprehensive report for your doctor explaining the clinical rationale and the exact protocol needed to safely reduce or stop the medication.

Yes. The AI Deprescribing Advisor is a free tool available to registered NowPatient users. If the consultation identifies a medication that may be suitable for deprescribing, it generates a comprehensive report at no cost.

Follow these steps:

The AI Deprescribing Advisor will ask you questions about your medications in natural language — much like a conversation. Based on your answers, it evaluates whether any of your medications meet the clinical criteria for deprescribing according to the relevant evidence-based guidelines. If a medication is found to be a suitable candidate, the tool generates a detailed report. If no medications meet the criteria, no report is generated.

If the AI consultation identifies a medication suitable for deprescribing, you will receive a notification and the report will be available in your Documents folder on your NowPatient account. You can then share it with your doctor to discuss next steps.

The report provides your doctor with the evidence-based clinical rationale for the deprescribing recommendation and the specific protocol they should follow to safely reduce or withdraw the medication. It is a tool for your doctor to review and act on — not a prescription or an instruction for you to act on independently.

NO. Under NO circumstances should you STOP or WITHDRAW your medication until you have discussed the report with your doctor.

Yes. The AI Deprescribing Advisor is classified as a Class I medical device under UK MDR 2002 regulations for its intended use. The tool generates recommendations and reports for your doctor — it does not make prescribing or deprescribing decisions. All decisions about whether and how to stop or reduce a medication must be made by your supervising doctor after reviewing your report.

The AI Deprescribing Advisor covers the following medication classes:

Not all medications are covered by the evidence-based deprescribing protocols. If your medication does not fall within one of these classes, the tool will not be able to assess it.

The AI Deprescribing Advisor is trained only on medication classes for which robust, peer-reviewed, evidence-based deprescribing guidelines exist — where the clinical evidence for safe deprescribing is strong enough to support specific recommendations. As new research and guidelines emerge, coverage may expand in the future.

If your medication is not covered, the tool will not be able to generate a deprescribing report for it. If you have concerns about any medication you are taking that is not covered, speak directly with your doctor or pharmacist.

The AI Deprescribing Advisor has been developed and trained on the following evidence-based deprescribing guidelines:

NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group, which is an initiative of NSW clinical pharmacologists & pharmacists.

B, Pottie K, Thompson W, Boghossian T, Pizzola L, Rashid FJ, et al. Deprescribing proton pump inhibitors. based clinical practice guideline. Can Fam Physician 2017;63:354-64 (Eng), e253-65 (Fr).

Farrell B, Black C, Thompson W, McCarthy L, Rojas-Fernandez C, Lochnan H, et al. Deprescribing antihyperglycemic agents in older persons. Evidence-based clinical practice guideline. Can Fam Physician 2017;63:832-43 (Eng), e452-65 (Fr).

Bjerre LM, Farrell B, Hogel M, Graham L, Lemay G, McCarthy L, et al. Deprescribing antipsychotics for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and insomnia: Evidence-based clinical practice guideline. Can Fam Physician 2018;64:17-27 (Eng), e1-e12 (Fr).

Evidence-based clinical practice guideline for deprescribing benzodiazepine receptor agonists. Can Fam Physician 2018;64:339-51 (Eng), e209-24 (Fr).

Reeve E, Farrell B, Thompson W, at al. Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline for Deprescribing Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine. 2018. ISBN-13: 978-0-6482658-0-1.

No. The tool applies established, peer-reviewed clinical deprescribing guidelines to evaluate your medication. It does not invent recommendations or draw conclusions beyond what the published evidence supports. All deprescribing decisions remain with your doctor.

Yes. The report is specifically designed for your doctor. It contains clinical information and deprescribing protocol guidance intended for a healthcare professional to review and act on. You should not make any changes to your medication based on the report without first discussing it with your doctor.

Your doctor will review the deprescribing recommendation and the clinical rationale provided. Based on your full medical history and their clinical judgement, they will decide whether to follow the recommendation, adjust it, or advise against deprescribing in your particular case. The report is a starting point for a clinical conversation — not a directive.

Your doctor has full clinical authority over your prescriptions and may have information about your health that the AI tool does not. If your doctor decides that deprescribing is not appropriate for you, follow their advice. The AI Deprescribing Advisor is a decision-support tool — the final decision always rests with your doctor.

Yes. You can use the AI Deprescribing Advisor to evaluate any medication that falls within one of the six covered medication classes. Discuss any reports generated with your doctor, who will consider the full picture of your medication regime before making any changes.