If you believe a beloved relative with Alzheimer's disease has experienced harmful side effects from an antipsychotic drug administered in a nursing home, contact a personal injury lawyer for assistance. Some nursing home staff members resort to providing quetiapine, risperidone and other antipsychotic medications to patients who become agitated or even violent, but the drugs often cause damaging results even if the patient's behavior improves.
Antipsychotics and Mortality in Dementia Patients
Many studies have confirmed that elderly patients with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia have higher death rates as a population when taking antipsychotic medication. One of the more recent studies reviewed some 45,000 patient records and found nearly a 4-percent increased mortality rate for those who were taking haloperidol or risperidone.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires a black box warning on labeling for these drugs to provide information on the serious risks. Nevertheless, some nursing homes continue to provide the medications to patients suffering from dementia.
Increased Health Risks
The higher mortality rates are associated with side effects from the drugs. Some of these side effects are seen in other types of patients taking antipsychotic medications, while a few of the effects seem to only occur in older dementia patients. Researchers still haven't figured out why this happens.
Health conditions that are more likely to develop when anyone takes these medications include:
Serious health problems associated with antipsychotics that primarily affect elderly dementia patients include:
More Rapid Mental Deterioration
One of the more troubling effects associated with antipsychotic drugs in dementia patients is the tendency for those individuals to deteriorate more rapidly in regard to memory, learning ability and other mental faculties. Family members are justifiably distraught when they realize that their loved one may have retained better cognitive functioning for a longer time if it weren't for that medication.
What You Can Do Now
Family members rely on nursing homes to provide skilled, compassionate care for their relatives. When staff members take shortcuts and issue medications that should not be provided to dementia patients, the family rightfully deserves financial compensation for the negative effects that result. Contact a personal injury lawyer {like those at Bennett & Sharp, PLLC} for a free consultation.
Share14 January 2016
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