Nursing Home Medicine Misuse for Dementia Patients
Nursing homes throughout America are distributing antipsychotic drugs to residents with dementia. They do this to control their behavior, and make it easier to handle the day to day job. Federal rules are in place to execute the misuse of drugs as “chemical restraints” and it is against the law, and I find it morally wrong.
A recent study has claimed that in multiple cases, nursing homes and their workers administer the drugs without obtaining permission from the patients living there or their families. These actions go unpunished and enable nursing homes to take advantage of their residents and abuse authority.
The Rise of Abuse with Misuse of Medication for Dementia
Human Rights Watch or (HRW) is an organization who have discovered these types of cases and states that it continues to be a current problem. Recent report studies show 1.1 million people aged 65 and above are residents and are found in an average of 15,600 nursing facilities for the year of 2017.
Antipsychotic drugs which were developed to treat psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia, are being misused on thousands of patients every year. Using such medications for the convenience of staff to discipline or restrain residents, violates federal regulations and is a major violation of international human rights law.
However, even when facilities have been discovered to have broken the rules, they were rarely punished “People with dementia are often sedated to make life easier for overworked nursing home staff, and the government does little to protect vulnerable residents from such abuse,” said Hannah Flamm, a New York University School of Law and fellow at HRW.
If no one puts a stop to this, it will continue putting more people at risk of such abuse.
These incidents have been discovered in hundreds of nursing homes across the United States, and continue to be a current problem with no one taking charge. Have you or a loved one suffered abuse due to nursing home negligence and have decided to take action?
Does a family member need help filing nursing home negligence claims?
Contact my office immediately. As your nursing home abuse attorney I’ll be there for you, and I’ll Make Them Pay!®
Author: Tim Misny | For over four decades, personal injury lawyer Tim Misny has represented the injured victim in in birth injury, medical malpractice, and catastrophic injury/wrongful death cases, serving Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Columbus, Dayton and neighboring communities. You can reach Tim by email at misnylaw.com/ask-tim-a-question/ or call at 877.944.4373.
