Holding Nursing Homes Accountable For Medication Errors

When families make the decision to put a loved one in a nursing home, it usually out of love. This is why it is heartbreaking to discover that their loved one is being neglected or abused. Anger is an understandable reaction. However, there are laws that protect the elderly, and elderly abuse is illegal whether it occurs in a facility or elsewhere. There are different types of elderly abuse. Some types of abuse, such as financial abuse, are not physical but can cause psychological damage. Medication errors are a serious type of neglect that can occur and could prove deadly. Facilities must have protocols in place to prevent this type of situation from occurring, but lax rules and careless staff can contribute to this type of abuse. The following points identify medication errors that could take place in a nursing home.

Resident Error

Medications have resident's names on them, and residents have armbands with their names on them. These measures are put into place to ensure that there are not any issues with giving a resident someone else's medications. This is why it can be considered neglect when a resident receives another resident's medication. It's gross negligence because it is obvious that the staff did not take time to ensure they had the right person. Coherent residents can tell nursing home staff their names and date of birth. Nursing homes should have as many protective measures as possible to prevent this type of medication error.

Wrong Medication 

This type of error can be serious enough to lead to a fatality. It does not only encompass administering the wrong medication. This type of error may also involve failing to give a resident their medication. Certain medications such as high blood pressure medication must be taken. Adverse reactions can occur when the wrong medication is administered. Sometimes the reactions may be mild or moderate, but hospitalization or death can occur when someone takes the wrong medication.

Wrong Time

Nursing home staff must administer medications at the correct time. Even if they give all of the medications they are supposed to give, it is neglect if they do not give them at the correct time. Administering medications at the wrong time can lead to accidental overdoses or cause the conditions that the medications are for to flare up. There are a number of things that can happen, such as seizures or cardiac arrest, when medications are not given at the correct time.

Medication errors are covered under personal injury law. A personal injury attorney is a good resource to use if you have a loved one who was a victim of a medication error in a nursing home. 

To learn more, contact a resource like the Law Office of Robert Karwin.

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