ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Overmedicating Nursing Home Residents
Overmedication of nursing home residents is a real danger. A recent study concluded that nursing homes administer unnecessary antipsychotic drugs to 179,000 patients every week. In a one reported case,[1] a nursing home was accused of giving an 83-year-old resident 20 times her prescribed dosage of oxycodone causing her to overdose and die. The decedent’s family filed a wrongful death case against the home alleging that the staff administered 500 milligrams of oxycodone to the resident over a span of several hours when her prescription called for just 25 milligrams in that same time period. The family and nursing home settled the case for $375,000.
The Marin and California nursing home abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. understand what can go horribly wrong when a nursing home resident is overmedicated or otherwise abandoned, neglected or abused. We represent elderly victims of such abuse and their families in order to hold those responsible for the harm accountable. Our attorneys know how to investigate these cases and what remedies are available to the victims. If you or someone you know is suffering from nursing home abuse here in Marin or elsewhere in California, call the nursing home abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm today at 415-441-8669, and we can help.
Intentional overmedication of seniors is a particularly dangerous, potentially fatal, form of elder abuse. The FDA warns that antipsychotic drugs lead to increased risk of death for dementia older nursing home patients. At a minimum, the drugs produce noticeable behavioral changes and, in cases such as the one mentioned above, overmedication with antipsychotic drugs can result in death. If you have a loved one in a nursing home and notice abnormal changes in behavior, the reason could be overmedication. An overmedicated patient may become reclusive, confused or begin sleeping for long periods of time; they may also develop unexplained medical conditions. Overmedication and administration of inappropriate drugs are an illegal form of physical elder abuse. Calif. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.63(f). You can stand up for your loved one in court and get them the justice they deserve. If you suspect this type of abuse, notify the authorities, including the Marin County Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 415-473-7446 call our nursing home abuse litigators today.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one is or has been the victim of nursing home abuse in Marin or elsewhere in California, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other nursing home abuse attorneys at the Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
