Fairview University Transitional Services is a nursing home in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) just released a report, no. H5170018, finding that the nursing home failed to ensure that anticoagulant medication was administered to its resident. This medication is used to protect patients from blood clots. The resident subsequently went into cardiac arrest in mid-January and died from blood clots in his lungs, according to the state’s investigation report.
The state concluded that “[b]ased on a preponderance of the evidence, neglect is substantiated when a resident did not receive heparin during the fourteen days that he was at the facility.” The investigation found that the “nursing staff at the nursing home failed to review the medical information pertaining to the resident.” The MDH found that “the facility’s policies and procedures did not provide an effective system of reviewing all medical information pertaining to treatment of the resident.”
The MDH investigation revealed that the resident had a cardiopulmonary arrest while at the nursing home and the resident was transferred to the hospital for further care; the resident died at the hospital; a chest CT revealed that the resident had large bilateral pulmonary embody (blood clots); and the resident’s death certificate declared that the immediate cause of death was massive pulmonary emboli.
According to the Star Tribune, the Fairview nursing home disputes the state investigation findings: “Officials from the home called the incident an ‘isolated event’ that does not support a finding of neglect, according to the report. They also argued that ‘it is unlikely’ that the lapse led to the blood clots.
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. Nursing homes commonly deny any wrongdoing when confronted. For the experienced personal injury lawyer representing a neglected nursing home resident, a thorough understanding of a nursing home’s medication policies and procedures—and a meticulous level of inquiry to determine whether they were followed—is the resident and his or her family’s best tools in evaluating and proving medication mismanagement.
To learn more, please check out our recent series of blogs discussing medication errors in nursing homes:
Mismanaged Medications in Nursing Homes: An Overview (Part 1 of 6)
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: Maintaining 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)
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.
