One significant factor that can lead you or your loved one to enter a nursing home is difficulty managing medication. If you or someone you care for has specific medical conditions, you may require multiple prescriptions. Drug mismanagement can cause serious health complications or death.
Your care facility should have comprehensive protocols for managing medications to prevent errors, but they can still occur. At The Florida Firm Injury and Accident Lawyers, we pursue justice for you or a family member if you have experienced medication errors in Orlando nursing homes. Our reputation for integrity, compassion, and an outstanding record of success leads other local attorneys to refer families to us for elder care negligence cases.
Medication Mismanagement Is Dangerous
Medications can have a powerful impact on your body. If you or a family member needs several prescriptions, the risk of serious or fatal drug interactions and side effects increases.
Even if symptoms of a medication error are minor, they can have a significant impact. For example, an incorrect dose might cause slight dizziness, which could lead to a fall—a major cause of severe injury and death among older adults. Some drug mistakes are fatal.
If a nursing home’s medication mistake caused you or your loved one to suffer an injury, decline in health, or death, our Orlando attorneys could help. We could obtain medical records and other relevant information to determine whether the facility was negligent. If so, we could bring a claim against them for financial compensation.
What Are a Nursing Home’s Responsibilities?
Your nursing home must provide care in accordance with your doctor’s orders. The Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration enforces federal laws and regulations that require care homes to follow specific protocols to ensure staff handle and administer medications safely, including:
- Establishing written policies for ordering, storing, tracking, and administering medications
- Providing medication management training for staff
- Maintaining a quality assurance committee of licensed professional staff to monitor and respond to issues related to drug administration
- Monitoring each patient’s response to medication
If our investigation reveals that your Orlando-area nursing home failed to uphold any of these obligations, it would constitute evidence of negligence, allowing us to hold them liable for a medication error.
Bringing a Claim for Nursing Home Negligence
To bring a claim for nursing home negligence, you must show that your facility failed to follow proper procedures, that this failure caused the error, and that you or a family member suffered harm as a result. You should notify the facility of any medication mistake, even if it did not have a significant impact on you or your loved one. To bring a legal claim, you must show that the error caused actual harm.
Harm could be any injury or illness resulting from a medication error. You could claim compensation for:
- Medical expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Additional expenses
- Emotional distress
- Funeral costs
If your nursing home was grossly negligent, Florida Statutes § 768.72(2) allows you to pursue punitive damages.
At The Florida Firm Injury and Accident Lawyers, we work hard to obtain compensation that reflects the seriousness of the mistake and its impact on you or your family. Our Orlando medication error attorneys have a record of high-value verdicts and settlements arising out of elder care negligence, including $750,000 for the family of a nursing facility resident who died due to a drug error.
Call Us To Learn About Compensation for Medication Mistakes in Orlando Nursing Homes
It is both heartbreaking and infuriating when a preventable event, such as a medication error, harms you or your vulnerable loved one. You can hold the facility accountable by filing a legal claim alleging negligence.
At Colling Gilbert Wright, our attorneys with experience handling medication errors in Orlando nursing homes could help you. We never charge for initial consultations, and you owe us nothing unless we obtain compensation for you. Call us today to make an appointment with a member of our team to learn more.