If you have an elderly family member living at the Avalon of Lewis Center, Mayfair Village Nursing Care Center, or any other nursing home facility in the Columbus area, you have the reasonable expectation that they will receive safe, compassionate, and professional care. However, no matter how highly reviewed a nursing home may be, it’s vital to know the warning signs of medication errors in Columbus nursing homes.
Warning Signs of Medication Errors in Columbus Nursing Homes
Nursing home staff are trained to provide residents with their medications according to prescribing doctors’ instructions. Medication errors can happen in various ways, from staff members forgetting to provide doses or dosing incorrectly. For example, some medications must be taken before or after a meal, and staff members are expected to follow these instructions to the letter for every patient.
A medication error case may involve a nursing home staff member failing in these responsibilities. It is also possible for such a case to involve a prescribing doctor who made a mistake with their prescription, or a pharmacist who filled a prescription incorrectly. According to the World Health Organization, about one in every 30 patients worldwide is harmed by a medication-related error, and about 25% of these incidents are severe or life-threatening.
Knowing the warning signs of medication errors in Columbus nursing homes is crucial. In some cases, the physical responses to such errors are immediately apparent. In others, a resident suffers prolonged harm from the same error committed repeatedly, such as taking an incorrect dose over a period of several days or even weeks:
- An acute response to a medication error in a nursing home could involve a very sudden change in the victim’s behavior or demeanor. For example, they may be usually very alert and talkative, but after taking a medication they suddenly seem withdrawn, incoherent, or disoriented.
- Falls are a common cause of accidental injuries in nursing homes and for the elderly population in general. A medication error could result in dizziness that greatly increases the risk of a fall-related injury.
- Some medication errors cause various physical symptoms, such as stomach distress and nausea, bleeding gums, unexplained bruises, and rashes.
If you notice any warning signs of medication errors in a Columbus nursing home, your investigation could reveal one or more red flags in the nursing home’s operations:
- You may notice long gaps in your loved one’s medication dosage logs and other treatment records. This could lead to accidental double-dosing or missed doses.
- If the resident has leftover pills when their refill is due, this clearly shows that doses were skipped.
- Staff members should be able to explain any recent prescription changes after a resident returns from a visit with their doctor or a hospital stay.
- Facilities with high resident-to-staff ratios and high turnover rates mean that new staff members are consistently learning residents’ medication schedules, and this shuffling greatly increases the risk of medication errors.
Ultimately, it is vital to recognize the warning signs of medication errors in Columbus nursing homes and to know what to do if you believe your elderly family member has been harmed by such an error. Depending on the details of the situation, you may have grounds to file a claim for negligence.
Hire a Nursing Home Medication Error Lawyer in Columbus Today
If your family member has been harmed by the negligence of those you have paid and trusted with their care, it is crucial to speak with a Columbus nursing home medication error attorney right away. Spangenberg Shibley & Liber has been representing injured clients in Ohio since 1946, and our firm has successfully recovered more than $1 billion in compensation for our clients in a variety of cases. You have limited time to build your case, so contact us today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Columbus nursing home medication error attorney.
