An administrator was charged on eight
felony counts of elder abuse for allowing staff to forcibly administer
psychotropic medications to patients for their own convenience, rather
than for their patients’ therapeutic needs, according to a news release
from the Attorney General’s office.
The druggings allegedly led to the deaths of three nursing home residents.
Three
other people were charged in February for their alleged roles in the
case. All of the defendants worked for the same skilled nursing facility.
The former
director of nursing, the former pharmacist and
the staff physician were arrested in February after a
two-year investigation.
Medical complications, including
lethargy and the inability to eat or drink properly, resulted from the
forced medications, and three of the facility’s residents may have died
as a result, according to prosecutors.
Twenty-two patients were given high doses, and one surviving patient was greatly harmed, the investigation determined.
Staff was allegedly ordered to give high doses of
psychotropic medications to Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients to
make them more tranquil and easier to control. For more, read the story.
________________________________________________________________
Robert W. Carter,
Jr. is a Virginia attorney whose law practice is dedicated to
protecting the rights of the victims of nursing home and assisted
living neglect and abuse in Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk, Lynchburg,
Danville, Charlottesville, and across Virginia.
