Overmedicating & Wrong Medication

As one ages, the chances of being prescribed drugs increase. Cancer, heart disease, and stroke, the three biggest killers of the elderly, require numerous medications. High blood pressure, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease are also common reasons why older people are prescribed drugs. One would hope that properly managing patient medication would be a high priority in nursing homes. Unfortunately, however, giving patients the wrong medication and overmedicating patients are too-frequent forms of nursing home abuse in poorly managed and operated nursing homes.

The Clore Law Group’s team of nursing home abuse attorneys experienced in overmedication and wrong medication claims has the experience needed to determine if the nursing home’s action may be considered negligent. If you suspect wrong doing, report it to protect your loved one; then call an attorney.

Wrong Medication

When the nursing home is understaffed, overworked nurses may make mistakes or become careless and give a patient drugs prescribed for another. The ramifications are serious: if one patient receives someone else’s high-blood-pressure medication instead of her own diabetes medication, not only are both patients failing to be treated for conditions they do have, but they also run the risk of dangerous interactions and side effects from the drug they’re not supposed to be taking.

Overmedicating

Medication-related abuse of nursing home residents can also be intentional. Staff may intentionally give patients drugs they have not been prescribed or higher doses of ones they have. In some instances, administrators may condone or even encourage such behavior.
Over-drugging is reported to be a common problem in US nursing homes. Some experts suggest that drugs are being used instead when nursing home staff feel the need to control difficult patients. While it is not legal to use drugs to chemically restrain a patient, such practices are acknowledged to be widespread. In fact, estimates are that a quarter of nursing home patients are given anti-psychotics. The result can be a serious decrease in quality of life or even death.

Signs of Overmedicating & Wrong Medication

If your loved one’s health or behavior changes erratically, if he or she starts developing unusual physical symptoms, or if he or she grows more lethargic or confused, medication-related abuse may be at fault. If at all possible, visit the nursing home when medications are dispensed to see whether care is taken to ensure that the correct drugs and dosages are given to patients. Ask to see a log of the drugs given to your loved one. And if you do suspect that your loved one has been improperly medicated, ask a doctor to run tests. Furthermore, you should contact a nursing home abuse lawyer to discuss the problem and your legal rights.