Overmedicated New York Nursing Home Resident Dies, Facility Fined
The New York Department of Health found 23 deficiencies at Uihlein Nursing Home, a New York nursing home facility, nine of which "posed immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety".
In one instance, in July 2009, an elderly male resident was given ten times the normal dosage of Xanax. The man was prescribed 0.125 mg of the drug to be administered on July 24 and July 25. Instead, he was given two 1.25 mg on the assigned days. Two nurses found that they could not rouse the resident and reported that he was cold to touch. Admitted to the hospital, he was found to "have had a benzodiazepine overdose with coma". He later died.
The Health Department also found other problems with prescribing and adminstering drugs at the facility. The facility was cited for three Level 4 deficiencies, the most serious level, in pharmacy services. The facility was also cited for four "immediate jeopardy" deficiencies in nursing home administration when the facility failed to hire a properly licensed administrator and the facility failed to choose a doctor to be its medical director, among other things.
The facility was fined $116,150 by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but because the facility waived a hearing, it was granted a 35% reduction in the fine and only paid $75,497.
