Definition of the problem: Lacking causally efficacious treatment options, dementia care is currently mainly determined by the provision of antidementia drugs. Based on the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and distributive justice, an ethical analysis of the empirical evidence shows, however, that the significance of antidementia is often overestimated and expectations too high.
Arguments: Antidementia drugs function only on a symptomatic level, are only minimally effective for many patients and partly even remain without any benefit at all for certain individual patients. Moreover, they often impose adverse events on the patients and consume scarce financial resources. These difficulties reveal a deeper underlying question in dementia care which has not yet been sufficiently answered: What should the goals of dementia care be?
Conclusion: Current dementia care needs fundamental rethinking: Drug treatment in dementia care has to be accompanied by an explicit reflection whether the achievable goals indeed correspond to the specific benefit and will of the individual patient. Moreover, it has to be embedded in a multimodal care process which is explicitly geared to the needs of an individual patient and which is structured by a coherent and patientcentred overall treatment plan.