Minnesota Assisted Living Medication Errors
Claims of neglect and abuse include assisted living medication errors are usually considered malpractices pursuant to Minnesota Statute 145.682. In the event the medication mistake is such leads to death of a resident a wrongful death case under Minnesota Statute 573.01, made need to have a coroner expert to related the exact cause of death as well as expert and other support of the related damages including those to the surviving family.
Facilities must report medication errors and deaths from errors, according to Minnesota Statute 144.7065, FACILITY REQUIREMENTS TO REPORT, ANALYZE, AND CORRECT.
Subdivision 1. Reports of adverse health care events required. Each facility shall report to the commissioner the occurrence of any of the adverse health care events described in subdivisions 2 to 7 as soon as is reasonably and practically possible, but no later than 15 working days after discovery of the event. The report shall be filed in a format specified by the commissioner and shall identify the facility but shall not include any identifying information for any of the health care professionals, facility employees, or patients involved. The commissioner may consult with experts and organizations familiar with patient safety when developing the format for reporting and in further defining events in order to be consistent with industry standards.
Subd. 3. Product or device events, events reportable under this subdivision are:
(1) patient death or serious injury associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the facility when the contamination is the result of generally detectable contaminants in drugs, devices, or biologics regardless of the source of the contamination or the product;
Subd. 5. Care management events, events reportable under this subdivision are:
(1) patient death or serious injury associated with a medication error, including, but not limited to, errors involving the wrong drug, the wrong dose, the wrong patient, the wrong time, the wrong rate, the wrong preparation, or the wrong route of administration, excluding reasonable differences in clinical judgment on drug selection and dose; and
(7) patient death or serious injury associated with a fall while being cared for in a facility. (falls are often due to medication errors leading to confusion and lack of balance)
Types of Assisted Living Medication Errors
Common types of medication errors include, missing a dosage of medication, missing medications for long periods of time, giving an overdose of medication, or being provided with the some other persons medicine. Sometimes the explanation is a simple mistake by a medication administration aide, other times there is medication theft or drug diversion or negligence on behalf of the medical professionals such as doctors or nurses.
For more information about this topic see: Medication Errors.
Contact an Experienced Assisted Living Medication Errors Lawyer
If you or a loved one is injured due to a medication error at an assisted living or any other type of elder care nursing home or facility contact Kenneth LaBore for a free consultation on how to hold the negligent care provider accountable. Call Mr. LaBore at 612-743-9048 or toll free at 1-888-452-6589 or by email at KLaBore@MNnursinghomeneglect.com.
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