Nursing home negligence and abuse are serious issues plaguing many Americans across the United States. With an aging population such as our own, there are millions of people living inside nursing and assisted-care facilities in the country – especially in heavily-populated states such as California. With such incidents, a strong, legal response is needed to seek justice for those afflicted and return their lives to the normalcy they knew before neglect. Reach out to California nursing home abuse attorney Joel Bryant today to learn more about the rights of senior citizens in assisted care facilities.
A Rundown of Negligence in California Nursing Homes
Negligence is rampant in California and nursing homes. With each passing day, nurses become more and more in demand due to their increasing rarity. Nurses quite commonly leave their positions as mismanagement, low wages, and unfavorable working conditions are present in many parts of the healthcare industry. Therefore, those that remain are oftentimes vulnerable to overworking, increased stress loads, and a more general need for improved working conditions.
These difficulties are what lead nurses and assisted living staff to mistreat their patients, either purposefully or inadvertently. Oftentimes, lack of sleep and other symptoms of overexertion and stress may lead to a nurse overlooking the expiration date on a drug or administration of the wrong drug altogether. In a similar fashion, the frustrations of current nursing home working conditions may lead to intentional abuse. In any case, neglect and abuse in any environment is illegal and can severely impact the livelihood of residents.
Illegality and the Consequences, Explained
The administration of expired drugs is extremely illegal. According to federal law, mislabeled, outdated, and otherwise unusable drugs are not legally permitted to be administered to patients. This law expands outside of the hospital and into other forms of healthcare such as surgical centers and nursing homes. This law is in place to provide a healthy lifestyle for those under the care of healthcare professionals. By signing over the responsibility of care of the elders, the nursing home legally agrees to take care of them and protect them from abuse and neglect in regard to medical, nursing, and psychosocial needs. This is critical as neglect is considered a crime that can be punishable in a court of law.
The Importance of Safe, Healthy Medication
Medication administered in nursing homes treats an array of conditions and illnesses. This expands past physical ailments and may include those that are certified for use against mental or psychological conditions. Administering an expired or wrong drug may result in serious complications to someone’s health, including the possibility of death.
- Anxiety and depression
- Infections such as yeast infections and UTIs
- Pain, either temporary or chronic such as arthritis
- Diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity
- Alzheiemers and dementia
- Organ failure
- Schizophrenia, OCD, ADD, and ADHD
- And more
California Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys Are Just One Click Away
Medication is one of the marvels of modern medicine. It has kept countless people alive and expanded the human life expectancy by decades across the course of modern history. While the difficulties of nursing are understandable, the jeopardization of one’s health through the administration of an expired medicine can be fatal. Contact our California nursing home neglect attorney Joel Bryant today to learn more about your options after a case of healthcare neglect.