Adult children in Oregon often help their aging parents take care of their affairs regarding medical care, financial matters or nursing home issues. Especially in situations where a person who needs living assistance is not of sound mind, the individual may rely on a son or daughter to make sure nursing staff is providing high quality care. If a problem arises, it is often the adult child of a patient who notices something is not right, then investigates to see whether nursing negligence has occurred.
A woman in another state is mourning the loss of her mother. The elderly woman suffered a fall and died soon after. The autopsy report states that she also suffered from a disease that was affecting her heart. Her daughter says when she went back to the nursing home to collect her mother’s belongings, she was astounded at what she found.
Her mother had been one of many patients who needed medication for multiple health conditions. When a nursing home resident receives medication, a staff member is supposed to stand nearby to make sure the patient is properly taking the medicine. In this case, the daughter says she found socks stuffed full of pills, hundreds of them, that her mother was given but never took.
Some have questioned whether the woman’s mother might have lived longer if she had been properly supervised and had taken her needed medicine. Her mother’s insurance company was billed for the pills. The woman says that is fraud because the company was billed for medication that was never taken by the patient.
Nursing negligence is a real problem in many Oregon facilities, as well as nursing homes in other states. Anyone with concerns about a particular situation can request a consultation with a personal injury attorney for guidance and support. An attorney knows how to investigate to gather evidence of substandard care.