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Recent reports by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed that the use of Risperdal (an antipsychotic medication) is not recommended for elderly individuals suffering from dementia due to the high risk of harmful side effects. Even so, many Illinois nursing home patients continue to take antipsychotic medications that are often prescribed by doctors who wish to control the patient’s behaviors with drugs. Many nursing facilities failed to implement other effective interventions to control the resident’s behaviors and choose instead to use the medication to minimize the amount of supervision, monitoring and provided care. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers represent injured residents of Illinois nursing facilities like Ridgeview Care Center who have been given antipsychotic medications.
Ridgeview Care Center
This Medicare/Medicaid-accepted Center is a 55-certified-bed Nursing Home providing services and cares to residents of Oblong and Crawford County, Illinois. The ‘for profit’ Home is located at:
413 Ridge Lane
Oblong, IL 62449
(618) 592-4228
In addition to providing skilled nursing care, the facility also offers IV therapy, specialized wound care, complex respiratory care, specialized diets, respite care, spiritual needs and ongoing social services aid.
Oblong Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
The state of Illinois and the federal government nursing home regulatory agencies regularly update the national nursing facility database system. The Medicare.gov information contains a historical list of filed complaints, opened investigations, health violations and safety concerns of every facility in the United States.
Currently, Ridgeview Care Center maintains an overall three out of five available star rating in the nationwide Medicare star rating summary analysis comparison system. This includes four out of five stars for staffing concerns and health inspections and one out of five stars for quality measures. The Crawford County nursing home neglect attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have located numerous violations, safety concerns and deficiencies at this nursing home including:
- Failure to Ensure That Residents Drug Regimens Are Free from Unnecessary Medications
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 08/13/2015, a state surveyor performed an annual licensure and certification survey and noted the facility’s failure to “provide adequate behavior monitoring, gradual dose reductions in indications for use of psychotropic medications.” The deficient practice of the nursing staff affected four residents at the facility “currently receiving cycle tropic medications.”
The deficient practice was first noted in the state investigator’s findings after reviewing a resident’s Medical Record Admission Sheet. The documentation listed the 91-year-old resident as being admitted to the facility on 04/13/2012 with physician’s orders documenting diagnoses of dementia, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis. The Physician Order Sheet (POS) also indicated that the resident receives an antipsychotic medication “by mouth every night at bedtime” and has since 12/12/2014.
During an initial general facility tour occurring at 10:30 AM on 08/10/2015, a Licensed Practical Nurse describe the resident “as a non-‘interviewable’ person who requires three staff to assist with activities of daily living because [the resident] keeps both legs contracted.”
The State Investigator reviewed the resident’s August 2015 Behavior Intervention Tracking Book that provides a list of Target Behaviors detailing the resident is “Attention seeking, restless, [in] constant motion, wandering into other rooms, upsetting others.” The resident is also at “risk of injury to self and others related to wheeling self in a wheelchair and bumping into others.”
The state investigator noted that the tracking sheet lists 20 approaches for the use of target behaviors and that the approaches to the resident’s behaviors include “Risperdal [an antipsychotic medication] as ordered” by the resident’s doctor.” However, the “Behavior Intervention Tracking sheet is completely blank. There is no documentation that any of the target behaviors have occurred during the past month.”
In addition, the state investigator recognized that “there is no documentation to support the continued need for [the anti-psychotic medication] and to ensure that [the resident] is not receiving unnecessary medication. There is no documentation provided by the physician to indicate the benefit of use outweighs the risks associated with the use of Risperdal for the resident.” The investigator continued to note that “there is not sufficient Behavior Tracking to document the need for the medication.”
As a part of the investigation, the state surveyor added the Black Box Warnings for Risperdal antipsychotic medication that reads in part:
“Not for use in elderly patients with dementia, increase risks for CV (cardiovascular) mortality. Not approved for this use.”
Oblong Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your family believes your loved one suffered harm, injury or a premature death while residing at Ridgeview Care Center, contact Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers now. Our reputable Oblong attorneys have legally represented nursing home patients who were abused, neglected and mistreated. We have years of experience of successfully resolving recompense claims to ensure our clients receive the compensation they deserve.
We encourage you to contact our Crawford County elder abuse law offices by calling (888) 424-5757 today to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation initial case evaluation. Your family will not need to make any upfront payment for our legal services because we accept all nursing home abuse and neglect cases through contingency fee arrangements. This means our legal fees are paid only after we have successfully resolved your claim for compensation by negotiating an acceptable out of court settlement or have won your case at trial.
Sources:
http://bit.do/RILnursing-Ridgeview-Care-Center
http://www.ridgeviewcare.org/services
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/PlanOfCorrection/6007942FIK09222016.PDF
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/PlanOfCorrection/6007942FI08132015.PDF
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/PlanOfCorrection/6007942FIK09112014.PDF
