People who have family members in Maryland nursing homes should closely monitor the health of their loved ones. While many nursing homes offer quality care that is provided by compassionate and caring staff members, that is not always the case. Too often, nursing home management tries to cut corners on staffing costs by keeping the number of nurses and other employees at a minimum.
Not only does this mean that there are fewer staff members to help care for residents, but it also places a heightened burden on employees. In turn, this increases the chance that staff members will forget to give a staff member mediation or provide them with the wrong medication when they are in a hurry to move on to another task.
According to a local news article, a nursing home recently agreed to pay the family of a resident who died while in the facility’s care $11 million after reports emerged that the home failed to provide the resident with necessary antibiotic medication. Evidently, the wife of the deceased resident received a letter in the mail six weeks after her husband’s passing, explaining that “there is some information that was not shared with you in regards to the death of your husband.”
The letter went on to detail the deterioration of the resident’s condition after nursing home staff failed to give the man a single dose of the antibiotic he was supposed to receive daily. The writer went on to tell the woman that nursing home staff and management were aware of this oversight, but failed to report it to the authorities or do anything about it.
After confirming that the letter was not a cruel joke, the woman filed a personal injury lawsuit against the nursing home. Initially, the nursing home prepared to defend against the woman’s claims, but decided to settle the claim on the evening before trial was scheduled to begin. Evidence against the home showed that thirteen nurses indicated that the resident was receiving daily intravenous antibiotics when that was not the case and that the nursing home administration intentionally withheld this information from the hospital after the resident was admitted.
In addition, the home has been fined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for several other errors, such as putting residents’ health and safety in immediate jeopardy. The cited deficiencies included several other instances of medication errors. The fines assessed against the home were over $400,000.
Has Your Loved One Suffered in a Maryland Nursing Home?
If you have a loved one in a nursing home, and believe that they have been the victim of a Maryland pharmacy error, contact the dedicated Maryland injury lawyers at the law firm of Lebowitz & Mzhen, LLC. At Lebowitz & Mzhen, we represent injury victims and their family members in cases against negligent nursing home employees and administrators. To learn more about how our compassionate attorneys can help your family obtain the compensation it deserves, call 410-654-3600 to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation today. Because we work on a contingency basis, we will not get paid unless we can help you recover for your injuries.