Nursing home residents’ safety requires that the facility staff maintain diligent oversight of its resident’s medication regime. The average resident’s medication regime includes seven to eight different medications administered monthly. Federal regulations mandate that nursing home facilities “must ensure that residents are free from any significant medication errors.”
Unfortunately, medication errors are all too common among nursing home facilities. However, the good news is that experienced plaintiff lawyers know the rules that govern medication safety.
This blog will explain the tools and skills used by skilled lawyers to determine if and when mismanaged medication resulted in a violation of a resident’s standard of care. Nursing home residents have rights, and any violation of such rights deserves a diligent and committed investigation to remedy any instance of nursing home malpractice.
Nursing homes are required by federal laws to have in place a system that is free from significant medication errors. Any inquiry into a potential case of mismanaged medication should focus on the facility’s policies, procedures, and training in several areas:
- a resident’s clinical records
- the facility’s procedures for acquiring, receiving, and dispensing medications
- a resident’s physician’s orders regarding medications
- medication care planning
- the administration of medications
- the facility’s assessment and monitoring of a resident’s drug regimen
- how a facility reports medication irregularities to the attending physician
- any medication errors
- pharmacy services
- laboratory services
These specific methods of inquiry will be explained in detail in the following reports of this blog series.
For the other parts in this series, click on the following:
Mismanaged Medications in Nursing Homes: Proper Medication Management (Part 2 of 6)
Mismanaged Medications in Nursing Homes: A Resident’s Medical Records and Medication History (Part 3 of 6)
Mismanaged Medications in Nursing Homes: Maintaing Adequate Staffing and Staffing Procedures (Part 4 of 6)
Mismanaged Medications in Nursing Homes: A Nursing Home and Its Pharmaceutical and Laboratory Services (Part 5 of 6)
Mismanaged Medications in Nursing Homes: Conclusion (Part 6 of 6)
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes and other care facilities that fail to provide proper care. If you believe you or your loved one has suffered medication errors because the nursing home failed to do its job, take action and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
