Nursing Home Patients Unnecessary Drug Dosing

Residents claim they are being improperly labeled schizophrenic so insufficient staff can overmedicate them to leave them docile and manageable

Lieff Cabraser is investigating claims that nursing home staff at facilities across the U.S. are over medicating patients based on false and unfounded mental health diagnoses. An analysis of Medicare data has revealed that the share of nursing home residents being given a schizophrenia diagnosis has soared 70 percent since 2012, and a recent investigation by The New York Times has revealed that at least 21 percent of nursing home residents are on antipsychotic drugs. Often such residents may have no prior diagnosis of schizophrenia. This increase occurred after new rules required nursing homes to publicly disclose the number of their residents taking antipsychotics except when taking it for schizophrenia.

The Times further notes that these drugs are particularly dangerous for older people with dementia and can double their chance of death from heart problems, infections, falls, and other ailments, but that understaffed nursing homes may be using the sedatives in place of hiring sufficient staff to adequately care for their elderly residents, and may be improperly diagnosing schizophrenia to avoid scrutiny of this practice.

Contact a Lawyer at Lieff Cabraser

If you have knowledge regarding nursing homes falsely or improperly diagnosing schizophrenia and/or unnecessarily or improperly prescribing antipsychotics, please contact Lieff Cabraser partner Lexi Hazam today at 1 800 541-7358 or by using the form on this page to talk about your case and potential recovery. There is no charge for our review of your case, and all information you provide will be held in the strictest confidence.

Contact us

Please use the form below to contact a whistleblower lawyer at Lieff Cabraser today, or call us toll-free at 1 800 541-7358. Our attorneys will review your inquiry promptly and in the strictest confidence without charge or obligation, and Lieff Cabraser agrees to protect your name and all confidential information you submit against disclosure, publication or unauthorized use to the full extent under the law.

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