Some nursing home falls could be linked to medications

In New York nursing homes, residents are expected to receive the standard level of care with the proper attention, nutrition and medical oversight to protect them. If accidents or incidents occur, it is natural to think that the staff is somehow responsible. In some instances, there has been abuse or neglect taking place. In others, however, incidents such as falls that were initially blamed on the facility were not their fault.

Certain medications raise the chance of a fall with injuries

A recent study published by JAMA Internal Medicine shows that nursing home residents who took specific medications had more of a chance of falling and suffering fractures. Those who were at risk were prescribed medicine to treat hypertension. People who were suffering from dementia and had high blood pressure were at substantially greater risk than people who did not take these anti-hypertensive medications.

The study involved nearly 30,000 residents were assessed from 2006 to 2019 and resided at Veterans Health Administration facilities. The data for people of a similar age – 78 – were compared to another group of nearly 65,000 people. Fractures for those who were taking medicine for hypertension were more than twice as common as people who were not taking these medicines. They were nearly twice as likely to need to go to the hospital for a fall when compared with those not using these medications.

While this is something for facilities to be aware of when they are treating residents for their health issues, it also suggests that falls are not always the result of a lack of attention or outright neglect by the staff.

Nursing homes must defend against allegations of wrongdoing

Injured people and family members understandably look for blame for the incident, but it does not automatically place responsibility on the facility. These factors need to be considered when lodging a nursing home neglect defense.