CANHR: STOP SB503: A Nursing Home Nightmare

Imagine you are an elderly person who recently suffered a fall at home, injuring your leg and ankle. You are sent to a hospital for treatment. At the hospital, you develop an infection and suffer mild delirium. As a result of the delirium, you are prescribed Ativan, a powerful tranquilizer, and Ambien, a sleeping pill, to make sure you stay in bed to protect your leg. You are sent to a nursing home for rehabilitation. You do not sign an admission agreement with the nursing home.

At the nursing home, you receive a notice that the nursing home physician, who has never met you, has determined you are not capable of making your own treatment decisions and so the nursing home will make them for you. The physician has proposed you continue to receive Ativan and Ambien, although they make you groggy and dizzy. He has also proposed the amputation of your leg because of the injuries sustained in the fall. The notice tells you that if you want to keep your leg or avoid the sedating drugs, you must contact an attorney and file a lawsuit.

However, you cannot go to an attorney's office because the physician has ordered that you may not leave the facility due to your incapacity. You have no options.

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Stop SB503:  A Nursing Home Nightmare