Nursing home residents refused medications and tried to escape the facility by scaling fences after a visit from a state inspector, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The nursing home, Regency Manor Rehabilitation & Subacute Center, responded to the residents’ attempts to escape the Columbus, OH facility by blaming the state. The nursing home has sued the state alleging that the resident mutiny occurred after the investigator told residents they didn’t have to take medication and were allowed to leave a locked unit, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
The nursing home could lose Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements because of the lawsuit, health officials say, which was spurred by a complaint of the facility’s level of care.
The nursing home was cited in the inspection for forcing psychiatric medication on a resident that put the resident in “immediate jeopardy,” according to the Columbus Dispatch. Officials say the resident showed no signs of needing the medication, and when he didn’t take it, was forced down and pinned to a chair by resident employees.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that the nursing home implemented a “Dr. Strong” approach to care that included allowing nursing to physically force medications on patients that refused them. The lawsuit has resulted in the nursing home abandoning such a policy.
The nursing home is also accused of locking away residents against the will of them and their guardians. Locked units don’t allow visitors and restrict basic living freedoms.
Regency Manor, which operates the nursing home, is no stranger to citations. Poor inspections in 2010 and 2011 landed it on the federal “special focus facilities” list, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The state Department of Aging confirmed to the Columbus Dispatch that Regency has yielded 14 other complaints already this year.
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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, including medication abuse and errors. If you believe your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a nursing home, 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.
