For older adults, minor falls can pose major threats, as their risk of death after a fall has tripled in the U.S. over the last 30 years.

Some experts believe that certain medications — a category called fall risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs) — could be to blame.

Dr. Thomas A. Farley, a Washington, D.C.–based public health expert, writes in the medical publication JAMA that lifestyle changes alone can’t explain the spike.

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"There is plenty of reason to believe that the surge in fall deaths may be tied to the soaring use of certain prescription drugs," he writes.

Farley noted that these drugs are widely used among older adults, and their use has grown over the past few decades.

"Cutting back on unnecessary FRIDs could be a simple but powerful way to reduce fall rates and help seniors remain safe, independent and active as they age," the researchers wrote in the study, published in BMC Geriatrics.

FRIDs could make people more likely to fall because they can cause drowsiness, dizziness, slower reaction times or problems with balance and coordination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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This category of medications includes common drugs such as beta-blockers (often used for heart conditions), anticholinergics (used for allergies, bladder issues or depression), and even proton pump inhibitors (for acid reflux), which may not directly cause falls, but can make injuries worse if a fall happens.

The most concerning FRIDs, according to Farley, are those that act on the brain and nervous system, including the following.

"The easiest way to think of medications that increase the risk of falls is any medication that changes a person’s ability to clearly perceive and navigate the world," Dr. Kenneth J. Perry, a physician based in South Carolina, told Fox News Digital. "Standing or walking without falling takes a great deal of coordination between different parts of a person’s body."

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Previous studies of FRIDs suggest a link to an increased risk of falling.

In one Swiss study last year, a group of seniors 74 and older were tracked over three years. Those taking any FRID at all were 13% more likely to fall, 15% more likely to suffer an injurious fall and 12% more likely to fall multiple times.

For those taking multiple FRIDs, the risks were even higher, with 22% more total falls and 33% more injurious falls.

There are some limitations to these studies, according to Perry.

"Many times, there are obvious associations between the two items, but that does not mean that there is a specific causation," he told Fox News Digital. "Although what appears to be a logical conclusion of FRIDs being the cause of the increased falls, it is difficult to truly make such a statement without further study."

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Perry emphasized that seniors shouldn't necessarily avoid the medications altogether.

"There is always a risk associated with taking any medication, but the intent is to make sure that the benefits outweigh the risks," he said. "The discussion of risk versus benefit is best to be had with a primary care physician who truly knows the patient and their specific risk factors."

AbbVie’s purchase of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals’ psychedelic compound bretisilocin for up to $1.2 billion last month marked the first time a traditional pharma company has bought an investigational psychedelic drug. The deal suggests pharma is getting more comfortable with psychedelic drugs, despite the Food and Drug Administration’s rejection of MDMA last year. 

Following the success of Janssen’s depression treatment Spravato, which had $780 million in sales in the first three quarters of 2024 and is currently the only legal psychedelic psychiatric treatment, other pharma companies are increasingly eyeing the space for potential future deals, according to biotech executives and consultants. “It’s clearly validation for our sector,” said Kabir Nath, chief executive of Compass Pathways, which is developing psilocybin to treat depression.

Psychedelics present both a risk and an opportunity, especially for companies with an interest in psychiatry. Currently there are a handful of biotechs with psychedelic compounds in Phase 2 or later trials and, similarly, a handful of larger pharmaceutical companies that are circling the field. “There’s a huge amount of interest coming in suddenly from pharma,” said Josh Hardman, founder of the media and consulting firm Psychedelic Alpha. “We’ve seen a huge uptick in the last six months of larger pharma companies joining the mailing list, taking out paid subscriptions.”

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