Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in California
Paxil and the alzheimer patient
My dad was in a alzheimer facility about six weeks. My mother was told that they wanted to give him paxil. My mother said absolutely no paxil. He had been taking seroquel and he didn't have any mood swings and was very calm since he had been taking that. We received a call one evening that they found my dad on the floor and sent him to the hospital er. He had a broken hip and severe tremors. The hospital was running tests for the tremors because they thought he may have a brain hemmorage, but that was negative. We had no idea that he had been on paxil about 2 weeks and the hospital was given the meds he was on but they were not told about the paxil. He passed away 2 days later. Later we found out tremors are a side effect of paxil. Can a home put someone on a drug like that without the family's permission? Also can they be held liable for not giving the hospital the complete list of meds he was on? The hospital put him on morphine and soon after he suddenly had trouble breathing and had to be put on a respirator. The last two weeks of his life we had seen a change in him and parkinsons like symptoms. We had taken him to his doctor to find out what was causing this, but we were unaware,as was his doctor, that he was on paxil.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Paxil and the alzheimer patient
I am so sorry for your loss. Generally a facility cannot not put a patient on medication without the proper consent of the patient or the individual who has been granted "power of attorney" powers. In this case it sounds as though your Mother had the authority to make the health decisions concerning your Father and explicitly instructed the facility not to administer paxil. In addition, that the facility asked your Mother for permission to do so leads me to believe that they themselves understood they did not the authority to make that decision. The only situation in which I can imagine a facility administering a drug without the family�s permission would be in an emergency situation, but that does not seem to apply here. At minimum, the facility�s failure to inform the hospital of your Fathers paxil usage could be negligent as well. In addition, administering a drug with a known side effect of tremors and then not ensuring the safety of that individual (not using a side bar on the bed for example) may also be negligent. This is all to say that you may have a valid claim against the facility. In my opinion, the first goal of which would be to ensure that this type of treatment does not happen to anyone else and their family. If you would like to discuss the situation further, please feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to return your phone call this weekend, as I will be in the office tomorrow (Saturday) if that is easier for you.
Yours truly,
Bryan Becker, Esq.
877*201*8728
Member, National Association of Consumer Advocates
www.naca.net
Re: Paxil and the alzheimer patient
Sorry for your dad and the loss to you and your family.
First, this may be a case where you can argue your way out of MICRA and have elder abuse and punitive damages attached to the wrongful death claim.
Second, file a complaint with your local DA's office for possible homicide investigation.
Third, get a lawyer who has handled cases like this and not someone randomly. I have done, and am still doing cases like this on a contingency basis, meaning no recovery no fee.
Feel free to call 323*782*0099
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