Advocating for the Nursing Home Victims of Medication Errors
Families generally want the best for the people they love. Often, nursing home residents are on waitlists for other facilities or have families who closely monitor their progress, trusting the nursing home to provide adequate care. Unfortunately, serious nursing home abuse and neglect continues to happen in the United States.
According to a recent congressional report, about one third of nursing homes in our country were cited for an abuse violation in a two-year period. Nearly half of those violations were serious enough to place nursing home resident's health in danger. At the Charlotte, North Carolina, law firm of Jackson & McGee, LLP, we hold nursing homes accountable.
Many of these violations involved medication errors caused by various forms of nursing home negligence:
- Staff administering the wrong dosage of drug, leading to toxic drug overdoses
- Staff administering the wrong type of drug
- Unsupervised patients taking the wrong medication or the wrong dose
- Use of overmedication as a an abusive chemical restraint
Medication Errors Caused by Improperly Hired and Trained Staff
One of the first places North Carolina nursing homes cut corners is with their staff. They hire too few employees, fail to train them adequately and underpay them. The result is that there are not enough qualified staff to properly keep an eye on residents — and these residents can be injured by serious medication errors.
These employees often do not have the knowledge of what medications should be administered and when. They are unable to recognize bad prescriptions and to prevent medication errors through knowledge and common sense.
Improperly screened, hired and trained staff may also fail to administer medications that the doctor has ordered. At Jackson & McGee, LLP, we compare controlled substance records and the medication administration records for painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin that should be administered to help a loved one's pain, but often go missing before ever reaching the intended recipient.
Talk to a Lawyer About Your Options
If someone you love has been the victim of a medication error in a North Carolina nursing home or assisted living center, talk with an attorney about your options. Contact the trial lawyers at Jackson & McGee, LLP, by calling our Charlotte office at 704-246-3295 or toll free at 866-753-6982. You may also complete our online contact form.
