San Francisco Nursing Home Medication Error Lawyer

According to the National Institute of Health, 92% of nursing homes have reported medication errors. That is how common medication errors are in nursing homes, and all of these mistakes are preventable. As more elderly individuals continue to enter nursing homes, more and more of these individuals are using over-the-counter and prescription medication, which also increases the amount of mistakes being made. Residents in nursing homes are more likely to suffer an injury due to a medication error than any other type of nursing home abuse or neglect. If your loved one has suffered an injury, a San Francisco nursing home medication error lawyer can help.

Nursing home staff members are required to administer medications to residents as prescribed by each resident’s doctor. Staff members must administer medication correctly, in terms of the:

• Patient
• Drug
• Dose
• Route
• Time

This means that nursing home staff members must administer the proper drug to the right patient, use only the right dosage and the right method for administering the drug. Staff members must also ensure they are providing the medication at the right times, and leaving the right amount of time between doses.

Staff members in nursing homes should also record every dose of medication administered in the resident’s medication administration record (MAR). The MAR is extremely important to coordinate medication administration among all nursing home staff members. When nursing homes, and the staff within them, do not take all of these actions, it is considered negligence. It is not always easy to determine if staff members have taken the appropriate steps, but a San Francisco nursing home medication error attorney can conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the error and resulting injury.

According to a study, the most common types of medication errors are as follows:

• Omitting the dose administered (32%)
• Administering too much of a medication, resulting in an overdose (14%)
• Administering too little of a medication, resulting in an underdose (7%)
• Administering medication to the wrong patient (6%)
• Administering the wrong medication (6%)
• Administering the wrong strength of medication (6%)

In addition to common types of medication errors, there are also some types of medications that are more commonly involved in medication error claims. These include oxycodone, lorazepam, furosemide, warfarin, insulin, hydrocodone, and fentanyl. Regardless of the type of medication involved in a mistake that results in injury or death, a nursing home medication error lawyer in San Francisco can help.

If you have a loved one that has suffered from a medication mistake, a nursing home medication error attorney in San Francisco at Brod Law Firm can help. Attorney Brod knows how to determine the cause of the medication error, and how to hold the nursing home liable for paying the maximum damages your family deserves. Call us today at (800) 427-7020 or fill out our online form to schedule a free case review.