San Luis Obispo Medication Errors Lawyer

In San Luis Obispo County, residents of nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and various types of residential care facilities often take a range of medications and often need assistance with drug administration. While nursing homes are the only type of facility where medical treatment and care are provided, other types of facilities where seniors live can assist with medication administration when elderly residents already have prescriptions but need help taking their medications or sorting out a schedule.

From the prescribing to the administration of medications for seniors, mistakes can occur. Depending on the nature of the error, medication mistakes can result in serious and life-threatening harm. More often than not, the facility may be liable for injuries, and an experienced San Luis Obispo County medication errors lawyer can help you learn more about options for filing a claim.

What are medication errors or medication mistakes? According to the National Coordination Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, a medication error can be defined as “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer.”

Medication errors can occur at any of the following points:

• Prescribing a medication;
• Communicating with a patient about a medication;
• Dispensing or distributing a prescribed medication;
• Labeling or packaging;
• Administration of a medication; and
• Use of a medication.

Liability for medication errors in nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Southern California will depend on the cause of the error and the point at which the mistake occurred (e.g., in prescribing, dispensing, or administering the medication). Accordingly, it will be important to speak with a qualified attorney about liability and who can be named in a medication error lawsuit. Generally speaking, however, any of the following parties could be liable when a medication error causes harm to an elderly resident:

• Nursing home facility itself or any other long-term care facility where the medication error occurred;
• Prescribing health care professional (e.g., physician, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant);
• Dispensing health care professional (e.g., pharmacist); and/or
• Employee at the nursing home or other facility who administered the medication.

There are many causes of medication mistakes that affect residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other long-term care facilities.

According to a study published in the Review of Clinical Pharmacology, the following are just some common reasons that medication errors impact older adults in these types of facilities:

• Communication errors between prescribing physicians and patients concerning polypharmacy (the patient using multiple different prescriptions);
• Healthcare provider burnout or distraction;
• Complicated or confusing instructions for administration; and
• Lack of appropriate training in the administration of medications.

Medication mistakes occur much too often in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other residential care facilities in Southern California. It is critical to know that the facility may be accountable if an elderly resident is harmed because of a medication error. If you have questions or concerns, or if you need to find out more about filing a claim, you should get in touch with one of the San Luis Obispo County medication error lawyers at our firm. Contact the Southern California Nursing Home Law Group today.