New York City Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

Because of physical limitation or mental impairments, our elderly relatives or friends may be required to trust their well-being to the professional care of a nursing home.  Fortunately, the great majority of these nursing homes in New York provide excellent and reliable care.  Unfortunately, some do not.

When a nursing home provides substandard care—whether by negligent practices or by  poor quality management and staff supervision or training—the health and safety of our loved ones are at risk.  And when risk turns to harm, relatives of nursing home patients turn to the medical malpractice attorneys at Rich & Rich, P.C.

Medication errors—a leading indicator of substandard care

One of the primary responsibilities of the staff in a nursing home is to administer, manage, and monitor the medication intake of its elderly residents. 

Causes of medication errors in nursing home facilities

This critical component of elder care fails in negligent nursing homes for many reasons, including—

• Lack of proper staff training
• Poor hiring standards
• Poor recordkeeping practices
• Inadequate staffing
• Improper storage
• Unauthorized or unsupervised self-medication
• Unconcearned and indifferent staff

Common medication error negligence

Examples of medication errors involved in malpractices cases include—

• Overdosing
• Under-medicating—not following the prescribed dosage quantity or frequency
• Irregular dosing—skipping doses, overdosing to make up for skipped doses, etc.
• Administering wrong medication—meds prescribed to a different patient, for example
• Improper dosing—not administering as prescribed, such as "take with meals," "only on an empty stomach," "take at bedtime," etc.

Consequences of nursing home medication errors

Medication errors result in numerous and often devastating consequences.  For example—

• Falls—The wrong, or improperly administered, medicines can cause excessive sleepiness or compromise equilibrium, resulting in a fall.  For the elderly, whose bones are brittle, falls can be extremely dangerous.
• Liver damage—Many medications given in too high a dose overwhelm the body's ability to flush toxins, overwhelming the liver.  In the very old, liver damage is often fatal.
• Heart attacks—Many medications in high quantity can cause heart failure.  Failure to administer a medication intended to prevent a heart attack can induce heart failure.
• Coma or death—Due to the frailty of the elderly, improper dosing sometimes has catastrophic consequences, possibly resulting in a wrongful death.

Get help with nursing home neglect in New York City

A well-run nursing home, staffed with caring, compassionate staff, makes it possible for your elderly relative to live comfortably for many, many more years.  But if you suspect that your loved one has suffered from nursing home negligence, contact a NY malpractice attorney at Rich & Rich, P.C. today. We work diligently to assure you the best possible malpractice settlement or award to compensate consequential expenses and to apply punitive force against a negligent facility.

We give personal attention to all our clients, prosecuting your NY malpractice case with the passion and determination it deserves.  Rich & Rich, P.C. is small enough to provide the individual attention your case deserves and large enough to pursue any size personal injury case.  Call 646-736-3999 today.