Some of the most tragic cases of nursing home negligence involve medication errors. Not just because the error results in a severe injury or death of a patient, but because the errors were indeed so needless. Somewhere along the line from the time the doctors order was written to the…
An error by an institutional pharmacy, HealthDirect, is responsible for the death of a 94-year old patient at a New York nursing home. According to New York Health Department reports, the woman was to receive methimazole, to treat her thyroid condition, but pharmacists at HealthDirect filled the prescription with metolazone–…
A Minnesota nursing home has been cited by the state’s Department of Health after investigators determined that staff at the facility failed to provide prescription medication to a patient who was admitted to the facility for short-term rehabilitation. The investigation was triggered in response to a complaint following the stroke-related…
We’ve all heard about how it may be in your best interest to avoid a hospitalization on a holiday or during a weekend, when senior staff tend to be off. However, a new study suggests that you may want to avoid a trip to the hospital completely during the month…
Following a three week trial, jurors in Michigan awarded the family of a deceased nursing home patient $4.85 million. The nursing home negligence lawsuit alleged Mercy Memorial Nursing Center was negligent in administering morphine, a commonly prescribed pain medication, to a man who was admitted to the facility for physical…
Following a medication-error related death and other medication-related problems that resulted in patient injuries, Minnesota Department of Heath investigators concluded that Fair Oaks Lodge in Wadena, MN was guilty of neglect and other federally mandated nursing home standards. The ‘major medication errors’ occurred within 16 days of one another. According…
In times of need, locating necessary information regarding the legal rights and resources for nursing home patients can be difficult and imposing. In this respect, we are proud to introduce a new resource for patients, families and practitioners looking for a concise compilation of information regarding nursing home laws. Nursing Home…
Prescription drugs are invaluable tools in the practice of medicine, used to treat numerous illnesses and diseases. However, prescription errors can result in serious injury and death. In the United States, about 1.5 million preventable adverse drug events occur every year. Pharmaceutical malpractice can occur when a doctor prescribes the wrong medication…
After discovering multiple health and safety problems, Florida officials have suspended the admission of new residents to Emeritus at Crossing Pointe– a Florida Assisted Living Facility. A September inspection of Emeritus revealed: An 82-year-old patient who died after staff failed to provide her heart medication for four days Inaccurate resident…
I was glad to see criminal charges have now been filed against Pamela Ott, the Administrator at Kern Valley Healthcare District, after several employees of the facility allegedly used psychotropic medications to control the behavior of patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Ott is now facing eight felony counts of elder…