Mistakes with medication are one of the most common medical mistakes in the United States. The federal Institutes of Medicine estimates that 1.5 million Americans suffer such a mistake every year. Nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable to this type of mistake, in part because they’re more likely than average to routinely take powerful pharmaceuticals, or live among people who do. Our Pennsylvania nursing home negligence attorneys have substantial experience pursuing medical mistake claims in nursing homes, as well as in the general population.

Prescription drug mistakes include:

• Prescribing the wrong drug or filling a prescription with the wrong drug
• Dispensing too much or not enough of the correct drug
• Failing to detect drug interactions, allergies or side effects
• Withholding necessary drugs
• Not monitoring patients for side effects
• Dispensing a drug known to be dangerous or defective

These are not harmless mistakes. Many prescription drugs have very powerful effects or side effects. A blood thinner can save the life of a person who needs it, but in the wrong person, it can cause dangerous internal bleeding. Drugs that are safe for a patient to use on their own may be deadly when mixed. A 2005 study in Massachusetts found that almost one out of every 10 nursing home patients in that state suffered an injury because of a medication error. They included wrongful death and internal bleeding as well as hallucinations, confusion and oversedation, which can be deadly if it slows the patient’s heart rate and breathing.

As with other forms of negligence in nursing homes, some cases of medication errors arise from cost-cutting by the home’s management. Nurses and pharmacists who don’t have much time to spend on each patient may misread directions and prescriptions in their haste. This is especially likely if high turnover means the nursing home’s staff is brand-new at the job every few weeks or months. Other cases of drug errors arise from simple inattention. Nursing home patients who are hospitalized may also be affected by medication mistakes by a hospital or its staff.

The 1987 Nursing Home Reform Act specifically says that nursing home patients should not fall victim to mistakes with their medications. Our Philadelphia nursing home neglect attorneys are glad that patients are protected by law, but we don’t believe nursing homes should need extra instructions to avoid medication errors. Medication errors are a form of medical malpractice, which means a mistake so serious that it falls below our medical community’s standards of care. Medication errors are one of the most preventable forms of injury and wrongful death at nursing homes, and can cost families thousands of dollars.

When nursing homes make mistakes so serious that they break the law, our Pennsylvania nursing home abuse lawyers can help. Rosenbaum & Associates represents residents, and their families, of nursing homes in Philadelphia, and throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We offer free, confidential consultations, so you can speak to us about your case with no further risk or obligation. To set up a meeting, please contact us online or call 1-800-7-LEGAL-7 (1-800-753-4257).