Pasadena Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Attorneys

What conduct is considered abuse or neglect at Pasadena nursing homes?

Nursing home abuse involves any type of intentional conduct that harms a resident. The abuse is classified as follows:

• Physical abuse. Physical abuse includes any physical force such as hitting or slapping, the use of physical or chemical restraints, and denying a resident his/her medications or other daily needs.
• Sexual abuse. Sexual abuse involves non-consensual sexual conduct, forcing a resident to engage in sexual acts without their consent, and promising better treatment in return for sexual acts. The abusers may be the management of the nursing home, staff members, anyone with access to the nursing home, and even other residents.
• Emotional abuse. Emotional abuse involves intimidating a resident, making them feel guilty or sad, isolating them, and other conduct designed to control or punish. Examples include yelling at or insulting a resident.

Nursing home neglect involves failing to follow safe nursing home practices to protect residents from falls, malnutrition, pressure sores, bowel and bladder disorders, poor hygiene, untimely or inadequate healthcare, and other failures. Neglect also includes allowing a resident to wander away from the facility and abandoning a Pasadena nursing home resident. Neglect is irresponsible conduct while gross neglect is intentional misconduct.

Another type of abuse is financial abuse. Financial abuse involves stealing money or financial information, pressuring a resident to sign a power of attorney or redo their last will and testament, gaining access to retirement accounts, and other financial actions taken without the resident’s consent.

Nursing home medication negligence

Most Pasadena nursing home residents take medication due to their age or disability. The nursing home medical staff must understand what drugs each resident needs, what the possible risks of each drug are, and be aware of possible dangerous interactions with other drugs.

The US National Institute for Health (NIH) defines a medication error as:

“… any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use.”

The Pasadena nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Garcia & Artigliere are skilled at showing that nursing home medication mistakes are preventable. We file negligence claims when nursing homes fail to:

• Maintain individual care plans for each resident that include an analysis of what medications each resident needs, the reasons for the prescription, and risk factors
• Ensure that the correct drugs are given at the correct time, in the correct amounts, in the proper way (orally or by injection)
• Record when the resident took their medications and any adverse reactions (such as allergic reactions) the resident may have
• Provide prompt medical care if there are any adverse reactions

Delayed or denied treatment of stroke negligence

Nursing homes in Pasadena should understand when a resident may be having an ischemic or a hemorrhaging stroke. The ideal time to administer tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) - a medication that breaks up blood clots that prevent blood from getting to the brain -  is within three hours of the time stroke symptoms begin. This means the nursing home staff needs to know what signs of stroke to look for and how to get the resident to the nearest emergency room. Prompt medical care can also help save the lives of hemorrhaging (bleeding in the brain) stroke victims.

Almost 200,000 die from strokes each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Our Pasadena nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys have working relationships with ER and heart doctors who can show why the nursing home should have reacted to a stroke much faster.