AThe use of chemical restraints is, unfortunately, nothing new. Nursing home abuse lawyers have long known that medication is often used to sedate and restrain residents. ABC News online recently published an article on the detrimental effects of a certain prescription often given to Dementia patients in nursing homes. Most of the time, these prescriptions are dispersed not only to sedate patients so they become more “manageable,” but also to help the nursing home make money from the Medicaid reimbursements they receive for ordering the medication.
Medication Causes Increased Death Risk in Dementia Patients
study of over 75,000 nursing home residents – 65 and older, who suffer from dementia – has found that those that take the anti-psychotic drug Haldol double their risk of death compared to those taking Risperdal. It seems that the risk was highest during the first 40 days of treatment. Krsita Huybrechts, epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, commented on the recent findings:
“The evidence provided in our study reinforces the important risks associated with the use of these drugs and underscores the need to try alternative means of dealing with behavioral problems in older patients with dementia. [The use of Haldol] cannot be justified because of the excess of harm. ”
Conversely, patients taking Seroquel appeared, according to the study, to have a decreased risk of death compared to those taking Risperdal. However, the use of any of the medications seems unneccessary, seeing as their effect on dementia symptoms is quite limited; so much so that the FDA never even approved many of these drugs for use in the treatment of dementia. Nursing homes are being reimbursed by Medicaid for the off-label distribution on anti-psychotics, or chemical restraints.
Dr. Jenny McCleery, consultant psychiatrist with the Oxford Heath NHS Foundation Trust in the U.K., believes that doctors are prescribing these antipsychotic drugs due to a lack of resources for non-drug interventions.
“Clearly, doctors find compelling reasons to prescribe antipsychotics to patients with dementia, reasons that are unlikely to be found in the evidence base alone.”
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
Nursing home residents suffering from dementia are indeed a difficult population to care for. That does not, however, condone the use of drugs to sedate patients so they become easier to care for. Nursing homes should provide competent, compassionate, and attentive care to your loved ones living in long term care facilities.
If you believe that the home in charge of your loved one’s care is acting negligently or abusively, contact the nursing home abuse lawyers of Messa & Associates, P.C. Call 1-800-MessaLaw, or submit a free online inquiry. You may also click on the CHAT LIVE icon to the right to speak with a representative immediately.
Both the protection and the monitoring of the patient’s skin is imperative to prevent pressure sores from forming, and to identify their stages early before they have a chance to worsen. One of the important steps nursing homes must be taking is the proper bathing of the skin. Only mild soap and warm water should be used, and he skin should only be gently patted dry. Harsh cleansers are not necessary, nor is harsh rubbing with towels. Talcum Powder should be used on skin that is more likely to retain moisture, and dry skin should be properly moisturized. One of the most important things nursing homes must do is to properly inspect the skin of patients that are most susceptible to acquiring bed sores. These are the patients that are bed ridden or wheel chair bound. 
Spears was able to leave this facility with his walker late at night, without any nursing home staff doing as much as asking him where he was going.
This nursing home is a 141 long term care bed facility located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Between November, 2008 and October, 2010, it was routinely inspected twice. These inspections are performed by the Division of Health Care facilities Evaluation and Licensing for the 
Today we are reporting about the South Jersey Health Care Center located in Camden, New Jersey. This is a nursing home that has 120 long term care patient beds. In a two year period, from November 2008 until October 2010, this nursing home was inspected on two separate occasions. During those inspections, the nursing home was cited for 16 separate violations. These violations included failure to meet proper safety code standards, lack of proper housekeeping and maintenance services, and food and nutritional issues. Many of the violations were found to occur often, and at least one of the violations was considered immediate jeopardy to residents’ health and safety.
It is important that nursing home staff be fully trained in how to deal with the special needs of nursing home patients so that physical abuse does not occur. It is also important that a patient’s family be aware of the signs of abuse. Some of the more obvious signs are bruising, cuts, unexplained marks, broken bones, and a variety of injuries in various stages of healing. It is also important to listen to the patient. A resident’s report of violent behavior, such as being hit or mistreated, must be investigated. Sometimes, a nursing home patient’s sudden change in behavior can be a sign of nursing home abuse or neglect and should absolutely be investigated. 
As New Jersey nursing home abuse lawyers, we encourage family members to work with the nursing home staff to make sure all nutritional aspects of the nursing home patient’s diet are examined. This is especially important to prevent these deadly bedsores and pressure ulcers. As the nursing home patient is often unable to get all of his/her nutrition from food alone, multivitamins and minerals may be needed to ensure the proper nourishment. This should be determined by the staff and made available to the nursing home patient. Research has shown that seniors need a variety of multivitamins and minerals to stay healthy, such as Vitamins, E, K, D and C for example. Proper vitamin supplementation should be assessed and determined by the nursing home staff, and then provided to the nursing home patient as part of their daily nutritional plan. 
In our recent 
This post is the third in a series of posts dealing with the most common form of nursing home abuse – the development of pressure ulcers and bedsores. In our previous two posts, we discussed the 