Knoxville Medication Error & Prescription Drug Attorney
Nursing home residents depend on the proper administration of medication to help them recover from illness or injury. At Atkins Brezina, PLLC, we have heard from countless seniors and their family members that medication errors happen with alarming frequency. To discuss your ability to receive compensation, give our Knoxville medication error attorney a call.
Medication Errors in Knoxville Nursing Homes
The following are common mistakes:
- Delayed dispensation of medication
- Improper dosage administered (too much or too little)
- Wrong medication dispensed to patient
- Failure to monitor a patient for side effects
- Ignoring complications arising from medications, such as allergic reactions
- Failure to communicate to a doctor that the medication is dangerous or ineffective
In some situations, staff might quickly realize their mistake and no serious injury results. However, many errors continue for long periods of time, and residents can suffer enormously.
For example, a patient given the wrong medication will probably continue to watch their health deteriorate. Even worse, they might suffer serious side effects. When a patient is given a too-high dose, they could go into a coma and end up in the back of an ambulance.
Why Nursing Homes Make Medication Mistakes
Nursing homes fail to properly administer drugs for a variety of reasons:
- Incorrect data entry and patient information. Poor handwriting, careless data entry, and improper data collection all contribute to nursing homes having inaccurate information on hand about the medications a resident is supposed to take. The risk of error increases when residents change nursing homes and information gets transferred to a new facility.
- Some nursing homes don’t employ enough staff, which means those who do show up are on the run constantly. When a person is harried, their odds of making a mistake increase.
- Some nursing homes are simply disorganized. This usually stems from poor management and oversight.
- Some nursing home staff neglect to do their job properly. They overlook details and don’t worry about correcting mistakes when pointed out to them.
- Staff sometimes abuse residents by giving them medications they don’t need, such as psychoactive drugs to chemically restrain them. Other homes will intentionally deny residents medication as a threat or punishment.
- Some nursing home staff will steal prescription drugs to sell on the black market. Others become addicted to the drugs they steal.
A Nursing Home’s Responsibility to You & Your Family
Nursing homes must monitor their patients and seek help if a patient’s health declines. This might mean reviewing medication with a doctor or shadowing nurses to ensure they dispense medication properly. Unfortunately, disorganized and neglectful nursing homes simply overlook the needs of their residents.
If you suspect something is wrong, speak with the nursing home. They must be notified that your loved one’s condition is declining. They should also investigate and discipline staff who are not doing their jobs or who are stealing from patients.
Call Us to Schedule a Consultation
The Knoxville nursing home negligence attorney at Atkins Brezina, PLLC can provide an overview of your legal options, which might include suing a home. Where abuse or neglect are present, we can also help alert the authorities.
