Tag Archives: drugging the elderly

Are Nursing Homes Over-Drugging Their Residents?

According to the San Francisco-based organization California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), more than 25,000 California nursing-home residents are being given anti-psychotic drugs. That’s about a quarter of the state’s nursing-home population, and according to CANHR and other elder-rights activists, it’s a figure that’s way too high — particularly considering the negative side effects these medications can have.

“They’re being sedated into zombie-hood,” says CANHR staff lawyer Tony Chicotel.

The Way Antipsychotics Are Used in Nursing Homes Called “A form of elder abuse” by Patient Advocates

Patricia McGinnis, executive director of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said nursing homes must be “accountable” for the drugs they administer. “The way anti-psychotic drugs are used in nursing homes is a form of elder abuse,” McGinnis told the forum. “Instead of providing individualized care, many homes indiscriminately use these drugs to sedate and subdue residents.”