When placing a loved on in a nursing home or other type of care facility, one wants to believe that staff members will do their best to care for him or her. In many instances, that does occur. However, a recent report about the overuse of antipsychotic drugs in such facilities was just released and the findings are quite disturbing. Those in New Jersey who believe that their family members in care facilities are being inappropriately drugged may turn to an elder law attorney for help.
Staff members at nursing homes and other care facilities are known to use drugs to sedate their patients in order to keep them under control. While there are some patients who may really require these medicines due to known and diagnosed mental illnesses, there are those who do not medically need them and are given them anyway. Human Rights Watch believes that roughly 179,000 individuals across the country who are currently nursing home patients receive these drugs when they really shouldn’t.
Why does this matter? While antipsychotics can help keep patients calm and easier to work with, they are known to alter a person’s consciousness. Constantly living in an altered mental state can affect quality of life. For some individuals, the overuse of these drugs can also increase risk of death.
Those in New Jersey who believe that their family members are being drugged and neglected at their nursing homes do not have to stand by and let it continue. There is no excuse for such actions. An elder law attorney can help them fight to protect the rights of their loved ones.
Source: msn.com, “New report details misuse of antipsychotics in nursing homes”, Feb. 5, 2018
