Nursing Home Medication Error Injury Lawyer
We leave our elderly and disabled loved ones in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities because these places promise to provide the full-service care that people cannot receive at home. Nursing homes are meant to protect and care for our elderly family members, providing them not only with a place to live but also with comprehensive and easily accessible medical care for health issues likely to arise. In particular, many families choose nursing homes where medication can be distributed by trained medical staff to ensure that our vulnerable loved ones get the treatment they need for their ailments. With our trust comes a heavy responsibility on the part of nursing homes. When they violate that trust and nursing home residents suffer, those facilities must be held liable for the harm they cause.
If your ill or elderly family member has suffered from a medication error in a New Jersey nursing home, contact the nursing home malpractice lawyer at Lance Brown & Associates to investigate. We fight for the rights of New Jersey nursing home residents to receive proper, qualified care and to be free from negligence and n eglect. The consequences of medication errors are severe and often fatal. If someone in your family was hurt or killed by medical negligence at a nursing home, call Lance Brown & Associates for help.
The Most Common Medication Mistakes in Nursing Homes
Nursing home malpractice can occur in a variety of ways. A medication error is one of the most common, but no less dangerous, mistakes committed by nursing home staff. Medication error comes in several different forms, including the following:
- Giving the wrong prescription to a patient. Sometimes, the biggest errors come from seemingly minor errors. Swapping two residents’ medication requires only one small mistake, but the consequences could very well be deadly. Similarly, a nurse may mix up two different medications with similar-sounding names. All staff must be constantly vigilant and detail-oriented in order to ensure that no “small” mistake leads to serious illness or death.
- Failing to give a resident their medication. Elderly and disabled individuals often lack the mental or physical capacity to stick to a medication schedule on their own. Nursing homes must provide all residents with the medication they need and ensure that residents take their drugs at the appropriate time. Failing to give a resident their medication every day and on time can have dire consequences.
- Failure to properly consider a patient’s medical history. A medication might be appropriate for a given condition but still be improper for a particular patient. A patient’s medical history could show that they are already taking drugs that would interact dangerously with the new medication, that they have been prescribed the given medication in the past to no avail, that they have an allergy to the drug, or that they have some other underlying condition that would interact poorly with the new medication.
- Prescribing or giving a patient the wrong dosage. It is vital not only to prescribe the correct medication but also to choose the correct dosage. Too much or too little can be just as deadly as giving the wrong medication entirely. Additionally, nurses must ensure that patients receive the correct amount as prescribed.
- Improper preparation of medication. Some types of medication require specialized preparation or maintenance, such as medicine that must be preserved at a certain temperature to avoid spoilage.
Any one of these medication errors can have dire consequences for patients and their families. If your loved one suffers an unexpected illness from a complication relating to medication, it is vital that you act quickly to protect your family member and their rights. A dedicated New Jersey nursing home negligence attorney can help you investigate the circumstances of the illness, find out whether a medication error occurred, and hold the nursing home or long-term care facility liable for the harm that they have caused your family.
Get Immediate Help With a Medication Error From a New Jersey Nursing Home Negligence Attorney Today
If you have any reason to suspect that your elderly loved one has suffered from a medication error while residing in a New Jersey nursing home, contact Lance Brown & Associates to speak with an experienced nursing home neglect lawyer today. We will protect your loved ones and help ensure that they get the care and attention they need.
