Medical Malpractice in Phoenix Nursing Homes
Many nursing home residents require extensive, complicated medical care. We rely on nursing home staff to provide that care in a timely and effective manner. Too often, however, nursing home doctors, staff, and administration fail in this basic responsibility. And when they do, residents suffer the consequences. In these situations, personal injury lawyers with medical malpractice experience, like those at the Phoenix area law firm of Cullan & Cullan can help you through this difficult situation.
Forms of Medical Malpractice
- Chemical and Physical Restraints: Nursing homes are equipped with numerous tools to restrain uncooperative patients; those include both physical (straps, harnesses, and more) and chemical (sedatives) restraints. But when misused, those restraints can cause serious injury to nursing home residents. Excessive chemical restraint can cause overdose or malnutrition, while abuse of physical restraints can produce bed sores, bruises and even circulation problems.
- Medication errors: Often the result of poorly trained staff, errors in medication administration can be devastating to nursing home residents and their families. Nursing home staffs have been known to give patients the wrong doses of their medication, to miss potentially dangerous interaction effects between different types of medication and even to administer the wrong medication to patients.
- Failure to Follow a Care Plan: A nursing home is required to draw up a document that contains information on a patient’s condition, how he or she is to be treated, and what changes might occur during his or her stay at the facility. Failure to follow this plan can seriously affect a resident’s health and well-being and can lead to a situation of medical malpractice.
Addressing Medical Malpractice in Phoenix Nursing Homes
Be pro-active in your loved one’s nursing home experience. Speak with the doctors, nurses, and therapists in charge of the family member’s care. If you suspect that your loved one has suffered an injury in their Phoenix, Arizona nursing home due to medical malpractice, please contact Cullan & Cullan today for an initial case consultation.