Failure to Provide Medications
Most elderly individuals depend on a regimen of medicines to maintain their health and treat other age related illnesses. To the extent that such elderly persons fail to receive all of the medications they need, significant harm or even death can result.
While it seems basic that a skilled nursing facility or residential care facility who undertakes the responsibilities of ensuring that their elderly residents will receive all of their physician prescribed medications as ordered and needed, such is not always the case. Unfortunately, our firm has seen many cases where facility residents have failed to receive their medications, for prolonged periods of time, and have suffered significant debilitating injuries and even death as a result of such failures. In such circumstances, liability against those charged with the responsibilities to provide such medications would exist.
Laws governing the proper administration of medication at nursing homes, residential care facilities for the elderly, and other care facilities exist to ensure that residents of care facilities properly receive their medications. Our attorneys have a complete understanding of the laws governing the provision of medications as well as the rights of residents to receive all of the medication they need on time. This includes an understanding of the laws and regulations involved in litigating claims against the different type of elder care facilities that exist.
Failure to Monitor Medications
Most nursing home and elder care facility residents depend on medicines to treat the illness they suffer from as well as to maintain their health. In California, any facilities that provide custodial care for elderly or dependent adult patients or residents are allowed to provide routine physician ordered medications and/or emergency medications to their residents.
The laws governing the proper administration of medication at nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly are different depending on the type of facility involved but as a basic rule, every facility must have in place for each resident a drug regimen that must be reviewed at least once a month by a licensed pharmacist. The pharmacist must report any irregularities to the attending physician and the director of nursing, and these reports must be acted upon. More over, in order to ensure that medications are administered safely, California law requires all nursing homes, care facilities and physicians to properly order, record, store, administer, and monitor medications for each patient or resident. Yet despite strict standards governing the control and administration of medications, medication problems, such as failure to monitor medications, are common. Our attorneys have handled numerous cases involving the failure of different facilities to properly monitor a resident’s physician ordered medications.
If a care facility has failed to properly monitor or provide you or a loved one with medications that has resulted in serious injury and/or death, Berman & Riedel, LLP can offer the experience and skill necessary to provide you with sound advice on what your rights may be under the law. Contact an attorney at Berman & Riedel, LLP to discuss your legal options.
