Failure to get informed consent tied to elder abuse charges

Failure to notify residents or family members in skilled nursing facilities before administering antipsychotic medications may constitute charges of elder abuse for nursing homes, reports Steven Peck, Principal Attorney and Founder of The Peck Law Group, Los Angeles.

The AARP has now joined a class-action lawsuit alleging that Ventura Convalescent Hospital (Ventura, Calif.) did not adhere to California state law in getting the required informed consent from residents or family members, according to a blog written by Peck and posted on the California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Blog site.

The lead plaintiff maintains that the convalescent center administered powerful drugs without proper authorization to her mother, who had Alzheimer’s and had been admitted after a fall. She believes the drugs, which included Zoloft and Haldol, contributed to her mother’s death a short time after discharge.

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