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Posted on 3/31/2010 - Opiate abuse: Nursing home abuse in Virginia isn’t always obvious
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Nursing Home & Assisted Living Abuse
Opiate abuse: Nursing home abuse in Virginia isn’t always obvious
Posted on Feb 27, 2010
It is important to know that over or under medication of nursing home patients is a form of elder abuse or neglect. This is the story of a nursing home where residents were found to be over-medicated with strong pain control drugs that according to records they should not have been given.
Three residents were taken to the hospital after nursing home managers noted that they seemed to be acting unusual. Testing later revealed that they had drugs in their system that they had not been prescribed.
Of a total of 25 patients tested in the Alzheimer’s unit of the home, six were found to have opiates in their systems. Three of those patients were subsequently hospitalized as a precaution.
Opiates are a controlled substance used primarily for pain management. Side effects include sedation, drowsiness, nausea and constipation.
One of the hospitalized patients later died, and five others are still in the hospital. It is unknown whether or not they will be returned to the nursing home.
The affected nursing home is located in Chapel Hill, NC, and is operated by a company which also operates nursing homes in Virginia. Over or under-medication of nursing home patients is a difficult form of abuse and neglect to catch, because the signs can be so subtle.
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