Nursing Homes - Over Medication and Under Medication a Common Problem

Nursing homes are those that provide highly equitable nursing care as well as rehabilitation services to persons who suffer from injuries, illnesses, or functional disabilities. Most of these nursing homes take care of the elderly who need special attention. There are also those that provide services for the developmentally disabled, persons who need rehabilitation from using drugs and alcohol, and also persons who are suffering from any form of mental illness. Some nursing homes are operated within hospitals while others are stand alone facilities.

Nursing homes are entrusted with the care of these people and it is their prime duty to see to it that everything is in order and that people entrusted to them must be given the optimum care. Any negligence on the part of the nurses or caretakers should not be left unnoticed.

Oftentimes nursing homes are replete with cases of medical mistreatment which usher in a lot of lawsuits against them. Common cases involve over and under medication of a patient. If the patient does not have an illness that needs continuous and accurate medication, this might still be considerable, however, for those patients who are suffering from illnesses that need constant and uninterrupted accurate medication, any mistreatment may lead to a really dangerous condition for the patient and sometimes even death.

One of the most common causes of wrongful death in these homes is medication errors. At times, poor and under trained staff give either an under dose or an overdose. When this happens, patients do not get the required dosage that their body or illness need in order for them to survive, thus resulting to a greater injury or death. At times, due to the impatience of supposedly caring nurses, an elderly or a mentally ill who becomes aggressive would just immediately be injected with a depressant to suppress their physical activity. Unfortunately, a frail body could not often withstand this and therefore succumb to further deterioration.

Studies have shown that most people die within a short period after they leave the confines of their homes and transferred to nursing homes. Although most nursing homes often justify death of patients as a natural and inevitable outcome of the frailty and weakness of the patients' bodies, the high rate of deaths seem inconsiderable.

Family members who notice any abuse or mistreatment are entitled to file a lawsuit against the nursing home that is taking care of their loved ones. Negligence and without regard for a doctor's advice are often the cause why injuries and death occur. The sad thing is that, patients are often ashamed to voice out any abuse or mistreatment that these homes inflict on them. However, this does not stop any family member from taking matters into their hands by filing the proper lawsuit against these negligent and careless facilities.