The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a number of brochures, newsletters and articles dealing with issues of medication safety in seniors. May seniors have chronic health conditions and take multiple medications. This high use of prescription drugs combined with age-related infirmities is related to the increasing number of adverse drug events in seniors. The FDA suggests seniors:
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Learn about their medicines.
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Talk to their team of healthcare professionals about medical conditions and/or concerns.
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Let their team of healthcare professionals know about all drugs currently being taken and/or side effects the senior may have to particular drugs or group of drugs.
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Go to all doctor appointments to receive proper monitoring and testing.
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Use a calendar, pill box, or other type of device that will help organize when and what medications to take.
Medication safety for seniors is extremely important. If medications are improperly dispensed or improperly monitored, such results can be severely life altering and/or life threatening. For example, last year, Berman & Riedel, LLP settled a lawsuit with San Diego County for $1.6 million for a case involving an El Cajon woman who was permanently brain damaged as a result of the care she received at a county-owned nursing home.
In July 2005, Ruth Lomeo, 44, was given an overdose of pain medication, and nurses at Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital in Santee waited almost a half hour before calling 911. As a result of the drug overdose and lack of proper response by nursing home staff, Ms. Lomeo sustained brain damage from a lack of oxygen and is now unable to care for herself and has limited ability to communicate.
Lomeo was transferred to Edgemoor from UCSD Medical Center in April 2005. Lomeo had been in the hospital since November 2004 for treatment of lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys. Lomeo no longer needed the intense care of a hospital but was sent to the nursing home for further treatment. At the nursing home, Lomeo had been prescribed the pain killer fentanyl, to be administered in the form of two skin patches on alternating arms every 48 hours. On July 25, 2005, those treating Lomeo left one patch on one arm and put two patches on the other, causing the overdose.
When Lomeo had trouble breathing just before 10 p.m., the nurse at Edemoor called her supervisor and a nursing home doctor to ask permission to call 911. It wasn’t until 10:21 p.m. that the nurse called 911. Medics arrived at 10:27 p.m. and took Lomeo to Grossmont Hospital, at that point, however, Lomeo already suffered permanent brain damage.
If you believe that a nursing home or other type of California elder care facility is not properly monitoring an elderly loved one’s medication or is overmedicating an elderly loved one, call Berman & Riedel, LLP today at (858) 350-8855. Our experienced nursing home attorneys will happily provide you and your family with an initial free consultation to discuss with you any questions or concerns you may have and can advice you on what monetary damages you and your family may have under California and/or federal law. To learn more about the firm’s nursing home attorneys and other settlements and awards Berman & Riedel, LLP has successfully secured in cases involving medication overdoses and/or improper medication monitoring by a Southern California elder care facility, visit www.preventelderabuse.com.
