Nursing Home Overdose Leads to $125,000 Settlement
Alvin Greenberg was a fifty-eight year old disabled man suffering from dementia at the time he resided at Green Acres Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania in October 2005. During this time, Greenberg was given ten times the proper dose of Zyprexa by nursing home staff.
On October 15, 2005, Greenberg's physician spoke to a facility nurse and reportedly prescribed 2.5 mg of Zyprexa to help ease Mr. Greenberg's erratic behavior. The nursing home contends that Greenberg's physician prescribed 25 mg of Zyprexa.
On October 16, 2005, the nurse who received the medication order wrote the telephone order for 25mg of Zyprexa and Mr. Greenberg was given 25 mg of Zyprexa on October 17 and October 18, when it was determined that Mr. Greenberg had overdosed.
An attorney for the Green Acres facility defended his client saying that the nurse administered the prescription exactly as it was prescribed for their resident - 25 mg not 2.5 mg. Reportedly, the nurse maintains that the prescribing physician gave the order and she repeated it back to him verbatim so he could confirm the dosage. Importantly, the physician for the facility later signed the order without making any corrections.
The prescribing physician's attorney counters that he would never have prescribed 25 mg of Zyprexa, instead of 2.5 mg, because he knows that the recommended beginning dose of that medication is 2.5 mg for that medication. The physician's attorney went on to say that the nurse made a mistake when she failed to immediately write down the dosage amount. The physician did admit to signing the order for 25 mg of Zyprexa, but gave the excuse that he regularly receives "stacks" of orders from the Green Acres facility.
Mr. Greenberg fell unconscious and was rushed to the hospital. There, he was placed on a breathing machine to assist in his recovery. Mr. Greenberg's attorney alleges that the Zyprexa overdose caused a "domino" effect of injuries resulting in staph pneumonia which subsequently caused empyema, which is an abscess in his chest cavity near the thoracic spine. The empyema then caused an antibiotic-resistant infection, which subsequently required bones to be removed from Mr. Greenberg's mid-back. As a result, a steel rod had to be inserted into his back and caused Mr. Greenberg to become wheelchair dependent for the rest of his life.
A jury found Green Acres fully liable for Mr. Greenberg's injuries and awarded Mr. Greenberg $125,000. The prescribing physician was determined to be negligent, but reportedly the negligence did not cause Mr. Greenberg's injuries.
The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.
