Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

My personal experience as a Missouri Nursing Home Lawyer is that far too many nursing home residents are overmedicated by those responsible for providing quality care. In my job I often meet with residents and their families in nursing homes. On some of those occasions, the residents simply could not wake up. Their eyes fluttered as though they were struggling to wake up and participate in the conversation happening around them. Sadly, the government has determined that my experience is not unique.

The U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services recently prepared a report entitled Medicare Atypical Antipsychotic Drug Claims For Elderly Nursing Home Residents that found that too many nursing home institutions failed to comply with regulations designed to prevent overmedication. It is well known that prescribing antipsychotic medication to elderly residents with dementia is potentially lethal, yet 88% of these individuals receive such prescriptions.

Family members must make certain that they know what medications their loved one is receiving. They must educate themselves on the medications and the proper dosages. They must regularly ask questions of the caregivers and insist upon answers. Family members must know what the possible side effects are and should closely monitor their loved one for any signs of side effects.

Why would a nursing home overmedicate a resident? First, to be fair to the nursing home industry, many times the overmedication is completely unintentional. Elderly residents are more much more susceptible to overmedication than are younger people. The second reason is an indictment of the nursing home industry. Overmedicated residents do complain and are, therefore, easier to care for with a reduced staff. Residents who ask to be taken to the restroom, or who need more water or need help walking down the hallway often require assistance from staff members. When a nursing home operates on reduced staff (as most nursing homes do) drugged residents are easier to manage than those who are alert and active.

If you are concerned about the care your loved one is receiving in a nursing home, call our St. Louis personal injury lawyer David Terry for a free consultation at 1-888-317-2525.

A South Carolina caregiver faces elder abuse charges after a December 31, 2010 incident.

Forty-one year old Sonia King was making morning rounds at Carolina House on New Year's Eve when she reportedly slapped two elderly residents and threatened to choke a third resident. The residents were provided medical treatment.

King, who faces three counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult, was terminated from the facility.

Sadly, events like this are all too common in nursing homes. Nursing home owners are determining multiple ways to pocket the money they receive instead of providing quality care and quality employees. The result? Less care, more negligence, and more abuse.

If you suspect your loved one is suffering abuse at the hands of caregivers, contact the Terry Law Firm toll-free at 1-888-317-2525 for a free consultation.

Felicia Williams was arrested on August 25, 2010 on three third-degree felony counts of injury to the elderly or disabled by exploitation. As shocking as this is, this was not the first time she was suspected of abusing defenseless elderly residents.

Williams, a former CNA at Port Lavaca Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, had been investigated not two weeks earlier on suspicion of making "improper video recordings" of residents of the facility. According to the facility attorney, Paul Romano, "Port Lavaca Nursing and Rehabilitation Center deeply regrets that the rights of some of its residents were violated by a former employee's inappropriate use of a cell phone video recorder". Facility management discovered the video through an internal investigation and contacted local police.

Williams remains in jail on in lieu of a $130,000 bond.

An eighty-eight year-old resident set up and caught a thief at Oakmont Nursing Home in Union, South Carolina.

The resident, who lives in a residential section of the nursing home facility, noticed that she was repeatedly missing cash from her room. Recently, she left $60 in a bank envelope inside a purse that she placed in a drawer when she left the room. When she checked the money the next morning, $40 was missing. Only the resident and facility employees have keys to the room.

The resident reported the theft to the facility supervisor and then decided to set up her thief. She left two $5 bills in her purse in the drawer. The bills ended up being taken at two different times when the resident was out of the room. Police were called and, after comparing the theft times with the work schedule of the facility employees, police arrested Brenda Rochester on two counts of second-degree burglary and petit larceny.