The Pharmacist Who Refuses to Just Fill Another Prescription
Picture this: A concerned daughter rushes into a pharmacy, gripping a crumpled medication list. Her elderly mother has been declining—confused, groggy, just not herself. The doctors keep adding more pills, yet things only seem to get worse. She asks the pharmacist, “Could her medications be the problem?”
Most pharmacists would glance at the list, nod sympathetically, and send her on her way.
Not Dr. DeLon Canterbury.
Instead, he does what most of the healthcare system fails to do—he asks the right questions. He listens. He digs deeper. And more often than not, he discovers a hidden culprit: medication overload.
Welcome to the world of the Deprescribing Pharmacist.
From Retail Pharmacy to Revolutionary Change
For years, DeLon Canterbury played by the rules of retail pharmacy, he did what he was trained to do. He dispensed medications, educated patients, and ensured people had access to the treatments prescribed by their doctors. For DeLon, something wasn’t sitting right.
He saw the same pattern over and over: elderly patients on a conveyor belt of prescriptions, taking ten, fifteen, sometimes even thirty or more medications—many of them doing more harm than good.
Then, he saw it firsthand.
His own grandmother, Mildred, was placed on a dangerous antipsychotic medication in a Brooklyn nursing home to “control” her mild dementia symptoms. That one prescription, intended to help, turned her into a different person—agitated, disoriented, and slipping further into cognitive decline.
No one questioned it.
No one flagged it as harmful for dementia patients, even though the medication had an FDA black box warning against it.
It took one caring pharmacist—not a doctor, not a nurse—to recognize the problem, advocate for deprescribing, and help bring Mildred back to herself.
That was DeLon’s wake-up call.
If no one was standing up for patients drowning in medications, he would.
What is Deprescribing, and Why Does It Matter?
Deprescribing isn’t just a trendy buzzword—it’s a lifesaving movement.
In a medical world where “a pill for every ill” is the norm, deprescribing is the intentional process of reducing or stopping unnecessary medications to improve health and quality of life.
And the statistics are terrifying:
● Every day, 750 older adults in the United States are hospitalized due to medication-related harm.
● Polypharmacy, defined as taking five or more medications, increases the risk of falls, confusion, hospitalizations, and even death.
● An estimated 275,000 people die each year from preventable medication-related complications.
Yet, the healthcare system rarely questions overprescribing—because more prescriptions mean more business.
Pharmaceutical companies push drugs.
Doctors are rushed.
Insurance companies don’t reimburse for deprescribing efforts.
And patients? They are left overmedicated and overwhelmed.
How DeLon Canterbury is Changing the Game
Dr. Canterbury didn’t just step away from traditional pharmacy—he built something better.
He founded GeriatRx, a consulting service that helps caregivers, seniors, and healthcare providers stop the medication overload and find safer, healthier solutions.
Using comprehensive medication reviews, genetic-drug screenings, and deprescribing strategies,
DeLon has helped patients:
● Reduce their medication burden—sometimes cutting their pill count in half or more.
● Avoid costly nursing home placements—saving families thousands in unnecessary medical expenses.
● Improve quality of life—restoring clarity, energy, and independence in aging adults.
One of his clients, a seventy-year-old woman, came to him on thirty-six medications.
She was spiraling—constant confusion, worsening health, doctors baffled.
With deprescribing, DeLon got her down to just eight essential medications and saved her family over half a million dollars in nursing home costs.
The best part? She got her life back.
More Than a Pharmacist—A Movement Leader
Dr. Canterbury isn’t just helping individual families—he is changing the entire conversation around aging and medication safety.
Through his Deprescribing Accelerator Program, he is training pharmacists, nurses, and senior care providers to become Deprescribing Advocates so that more families can escape the trap of overmedication.
Through his community engagement, he is spreading awareness about the urgent need for deprescribing in a healthcare system that profits from keeping people medicated, not healthy.
And through GeriatRx, he is proving that pharmacists are the best-kept secret in patient advocacy—because sometimes, saving a life isn’t about adding another prescription, but taking one away.
Are You or a Loved One Overmedicated? Here’s What to Do
If you are reading this and thinking, “This sounds like my mom. My dad. My grandmother. My patient.”—you are not alone.
Ask yourself these simple Deprescribing Starter Questions:
● Is your loved one on five or more medications?
● Have they experienced unexplained confusion, falls, or fatigue?
● Do they know why they are taking each medication?
● Have their medications been reviewed recently by a pharmacist trained in deprescribing?
● Are there non-drug options for managing their condition?
If any of these raise red flags, it is time to become a deprescribing advocate.
Join the Deprescribing Movement
DeLon Canterbury isn’t waiting for the healthcare system to fix itself. He is building a new path—one where patients are safer, caregivers are empowered, and medications are used wisely, not excessively.
If you or someone you love is struggling under the weight of too many prescriptions, don’t wait. Visit GeriatRx.org to schedule a consultation. Follow Dr. Canterbury’s work and learn how to fight overprescribing.
Be bold. Ask questions. Save lives.
Because healthy aging shouldn’t mean more medication—it should mean the right medication. And sometimes, the best prescription is none at all.
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