January 24, 2011

Some Nursing Homes Focusing on Quality of Life for Demenia & Alzheimer’s Residents

Stories of tragic neglect and abuse fill the archives of this blog, because it is important to raise awareness of the plight faced by so many victims stuck in bad nursing homes. At the same time, some facilities (though still too few) are taking important steps to improve care for the residents whose lives are dictated by their decisions. Some facilities are reevaluating their approach to consider residents’ overall quality of life.

For example, the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday on Glenview’s Maryhaven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility has participated in a test-study examining ways to improve the lives of nursing home residents suffering with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The study tested new ways of providing care for these patients with a focus on simply improving the day to day living experience of the sufferers.

One general goal of the care is to get facilities to focus on comfort care rather than standard aggressive treatments that have found to offer little to no medical benefit. In addition, many family members of residents are encouraged to engage more fully in the new care programs. Pain medications are used in better ways under the new treatment programs as well. Care givers are encouraged to ensure that pain is prevented before it spikes, instead of only after the victim wallows for a time. Facilities using the new techniques actually saw a reduction in the need for psychotropic medications.

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Posted In: Chemical Restraints

October 9, 2010

Standing Up For Seniors Report: Chemical Restraints

The American Association for Justice released a comprehensive new report entitled, “Standing Up For Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans.” Today we being our in-depth consideration of the issues raised in the report by discussing one of the most common (and heartbreaking) aspects of negligent nursing home care.

Chemical restraints refer to a regime of medication administered to nursing home residents in an effort to mentally and physically control seniors at these facilities. In much the same way that any physical means of limiting the actions of a person, chemical restraints act as a severe limitation on the freedom of vulnerable seniors. Use of chemical restraints has increased in nursing homes recently. New research has shown that 71% of nursing home residents are prescribed psychoactive medication within three months of being admitted to a facility. The vast majority of these residents were not diagnosed with a psychiatric problem, meaning that the drugs are administered solely as a means of controlling the residents.

One Alzheimer’s specialist explains, “Way too many patients in nursing homes are treated with antipsychotics purely to sedate them or to control their behaviors that are difficult for the staff.”

One Illinois physician has a medication practice for nursing homes that has been described as an “assembly line,” with the same slate of controlling drugs prescribed to everyone regardless of their actual need.

The negative effects of this abuse are clear. Experts have identified clear side-effects for those seniors given these drugs, especially when combined with other prescriptions that a resident may have. For many patients the drugs lead to delirium, confusion, falls, and ultimately more hospitalizations and injuries. Also, the Food and Drug administration warns that there could be an increased risk of death associated with these drugs if given to dementia patients.

Our Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti are committed to working with the victims of this type of abuse and their families to eliminate the scourge of unneeded chemical restraint. Our lawyers can help get patients off unnecessary drugs and seek vindication for harm caused by the nursing home abuse. Please be sure to speak with a nursing home attorney to learn what can be done if you know someone who has been victimized by unneeded drugs.

We will continue our examination of the AAJ Report tomorrow and take a closer looks at forced arbitration clauses in many nursing home contracts.

Please Click Here to view the full copy of this report.

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Posted In: Chemical Restraints

July 27, 2010

Nursing Homes Chemically Restraining their Residents

Channel 10 News in San Diego reported on troubling claims of nursing home abuse made by the daughter of a nursing home resident who died at the facility last year. The abuse was an example of “chemical restraint,” where residents are essentially fed drugs in order to ensure that they are essentially immobile, so that nursing home staff members can do even less work to care for them.

Dr. Keith Blair was a lifelong dentist before entering Arbor Hill Nursing Center to help cope with some mild dementia. Dr. Blair’s health was suffering, and the care workers at the facility were supposed to provide close care to help Dr. Blair recoup. However, instead of providing close monitoring, the nursing staff at the facility gave him doses of anti-psychotic drugs, Risperdal and Haldol, without his consent. Both drugs contain specifics warnings as having increased mortality risks in elderly patients.

The negligent nursing home staff willfully committed the medication error as a way to control their residents. Dr. Reid’s daughter remembers visiting her father only to discover that he was completely out of it while on the medication, unable to leave the bed or remain active in any way. Ultimately, the unlawful use of drugs led to Dr. Reid’s death not long after his arrival at the facility.

Unfortunately, Dr. Reid’s case is not an isolated incident. In fact, the problem is reaching huge proportions. A federal Food and Drug administration expert, Dr. David Graham reported to Congress last year that upwards of 15,000 elderly nursing home residents die each year because of this off-label use of drugs.

Even more startling is the fact that tax-payers currently pay the bill for these drugs given to elderly nursing home residents. As nursing home reform advocate Carole Herman explains, “We are basically paying for elderly abuse in this country.”

The cause of this deadly and destructive drugging practice is a drive for ever increasing profits for the nursing home industry. On top of that, many states provide only weak oversight of these medical restraints in their nursing homes. That means that the problem will likely continue to plague thousands of elderly Americans each year.

Our Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti are proud to fight for the rights of victims of nursing home abuse and their families. Our decades of legal experiences have shown us that nursing home negligence comes in many forms, including the unnecessary use of anti-psychotic drugs to control residents. Our elderly deserve respect and proper care when they enter these homes. If you suspect any chemical restraint at a nearby nursing home, contact a skilled nursing home attorney to learn how to help end the abusive practice.

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Posted In: Chemical Restraints

May 27, 2010

Antipsychotic Medications are Overused in Nursing Homes

Science Daily is reporting that a study shows that newly admitted elderly patients to nursing homes have a higher rate of being prescribed antipsychotic drugs than in previous years. This study found that in 2007, almost one-third of U.S. nursing home residents received antipsychotic drugs. The FDA has issued a warning that there is a great risk of death among older adults with dementia who are taking these agents to control behavioral symptoms. A recent clinical trial has concluded that the adverse effects of atypical antipsychotic drugs have outweighed the benefits of those with Alzheimer’s. This shows that many doctors are over prescribing these drugs, and it is having an adverse effect on patients.

The nursing home study found that about 30 percent of the residents in the study received at least one antipsychotic medication in 2006 and 32 percent of those did not have dementia or another indication that they needed to be on this medication. Some experts believe that the organizational culture of the nursing homes may encourage the prescribing of antipsychotic. Hopefully, the FDA warning and other studies will move the prescription statistics in the opposite direction. If not policies may have to target those nursing homes that have a high antipsychotic prescription rate so as to improve patient care. To read more about the nursing home study, please click the link.

Once physical restraints were banned from most nursing homes, it appears that doctors began using antipsychotic medications to chemically restrain patients. Oftentimes this leaves patients feeling lethargic and they are not themselves. If you believe that your loved one is being prescribed antipsychotic, please approach the nursing home doctor and inquire why they are being prescribed. If you learn that they are being over prescribed so as to chemically restrain the patient, consult a Chicago nursing home lawyer.

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Posted In: National Nursing Homes, Chemical Restraints

January 29, 2010

Nursing Home Abuse: Using Antipsychotic Drugs as Chemical Restraints

A new study has found that newly admitted nursing home patients are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics if the nursing home has a high prescribing rate for antipsychotics. The FDA has recently advised that nursing homes should decrease their use of atypical antipsychotic in elderly dementia patients. More than 29 percent of residents received at least one antipsychotic medication, even though 32 percent of them had no clinical indication for the medication. It is important that elderly people are not overly medicated by antipsychotic medication. Nursing homes cannot use these medications in order to chemically restrain their patients. To learn more about the nursing home studies, please click the link.

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Posted In: National Nursing Homes, Chemical Restraints

January 8, 2010

Restrictions Sought in Illinois for Chemical Restraints in Nursing Homes

Nursing home resident advocates in Illinois are pushing for new rules on the use of antipsychotic drugs among nursing home residents. This would prevent the misuse of the drugs as a form of chemical restraint in nursing homes. A grassroots organization that fights to improve nursing home care in the state, entitled Illinois Citizens for Better Care, is pushing for new state laws and regulations that would prevent nursing homes and doctors from using antipsychotic and psychotropic drugs as a form of chemical restraint on the elderly residents. The concerns over the use of certain drugs have increased considerably as the result of the Chicago Tribune’s reports on problems in Illinois nursing homes. The Illinois governor has established the Nursing Home Safety Task Force to address the nursing home abuse problems that were uncovered by the investigation. A recent study has find that the side effects of the antispychotics commonly given to elderly residents have been linked to death and strokes. Nursing home care advocates say that the state could prevent the “off-label” use of antipsychotics in eldely patients by refusing to pay for those specific drugs. Also the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family can grant consent for the drugs on a case-by-case basis. The use of standardized forms and disclosure may also help the problems associated by the drugs. The use of chemical restraints is becoming commonplace as physical restraints become outlawed. If you or a loved one has been harmed by chemical restraints, please contact an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the solutions for chemical restraints, please click the link.

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Posted In: Chemical Restraints, Incidents

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