Overmedication In Nursing Homes Can Be Abusive
and Throughout Connecticut
Intentional overmedication – also known as “chemical restraint” – occurs when nursing home staff uses anxiety medications, antipsychotics and other psychoactive medications to drug residents into stupors. Why do they do this? Simply for the convenience of the staff members.
By unnecessarily medicating or oversedating nursing home residents, the staff has less work to do. Residents are less active and require far less attention when they are excessively sedated. However, this is an obvious form of nursing home abuse.
Excessive Use Of Drugs Can Cause Permanent Damage
Unnecessary or excessive use of antipsychotic and other drugs can lead to serious and permanent mental damage.
Overmedication has been known to lead to:
- Addiction
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Cancer
- Dementia
- Heart attack
- Infections
- Stroke
- Other serious medical conditions
Know The Signs Of Overmedication
Nursing home residents who are being overmedicated show a variety of symptoms you can look for. These include listlessness, lethargy, unexplained fear and anxiety, and decreased speech capacity. Do you think your elderly loved one is being unnecessarily sedated in a nursing home? Pay close attention to your loved one’s physical and mental state to help notice signs of abuse and neglect.
Speak To A Personal Injury Lawyer Right Away
If you do notice any strange or unexplained changes in your loved one’s behavior, it may very well be that the nursing home staff is neglecting or abusing your loved one for their own convenience. You should take immediate action, move your loved one to a safe location or another nursing home, and file a claim. If there were criminal actions involved, a separate criminal case can be pursued on your loved one’s behalf. This can help hold the nursing home staff members accountable for their maltreatment and neglect of patients.
Call Sette & Parnoff, PC, in Hamden at (845) 622-6590 for assistance. You may also initiate a free consultation by sending us an email through our secure website.
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