Two residents at Bloomington Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Bloomington, Illinois were the victims of nursing home neglect when staff of the nursing home failed to follow physician orders and committed a series of medication errors. One of the residents was hospitalized as a result.
The resident who required hospitalization was admitted to the nursing home with no cognitive impairment or communication problems. She suffered from seizures as well as anxiety and depression. For the seizures she was prescribed Dilantin (a common anti-seizure medication).
Shortly after admission, the resident was found by Bloomington Rehabilitation staff on the floor in the midst of a seizure. A physician ordered blood work and subsequently increased her Dilantin level. Additional lab tests were to be regularly performed to monitor levels of Dilantin in her system. Bloomington Rehab never performed any of these tests, and the nursing home continued to administer the higher levels of the drug.
Shortly afterwards, the resident started feeling the common ill effects of the Dilantin (shakes and weakness). For days, Bloomington Rehabilitation staff ignored her complaints. They claimed they called a doctor for her, but no record of any call exists. One day a nurse told her, “Mondays were not good days to call the doctor.”
Finally, after four days, the family of the resident transported her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a Dilantin overdose. A Dilantin overdose can be extremely dangerous for a nursing home resident. Symptoms include hallucinations, vomiting, dizziness, and may cause a coma.
The Bloomington Rehabilitation staff were guilty of nursing home neglect when they failed to notify the doctor of the resident’s complaints, and they were guilty of committing medication errors when they continued to give her an increased amount of medication without performing the lab tests ordered by the resident’s physician.
If you have a loved one who you think has been the victim of medication errors or nursing home neglect in an Illinois nursing home, contact my law offices for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. At my law offices we never charge a fee unless we take, and win, your case.
Other blog posts of interest:
Resident develops bed sores on both heels at McLean County Nursing Home
Resident given wrong medication at Villa Healthcare East
Critical medication error at Gardenview Manor in Danville
Failure to give anti-seizure medication at Lexington of Orland Park
Medication error at Palm Terrace in Mattoon
Two medication errors at Alden Town Manor
Medication errors at Swansea Rehab
Medication error at Regency in Springfield
Failure to obtain anti-seizure medications at Gilman Healthcare Center