Saturday, February 21, 2009

Fatal Druggings

Three high-level employees at Kern Valley Hospital District were arrested Wednesday for elder abuse and other charges.

The suspects worked for KVHD's skilled nursing facility in Lake Isabella and are accused of forcibly administering psychotropic drugs for staff convenience rather than the patients' medical needs.

Former director of nursing Gwen Hughes, former pharmacist Debbi Hayes and current staff physician Dr. Hoshang Pormir were arrested following a two-year investigation, according to a news release from California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office.

Full Article and Source:
Nursing home workers arrested in fatal druggings

More information:

The complaint alleges a nursing director, pharmacist and physician drugged at least 22 elderly residents with mood-altering medications to quiet and control them, leading to the deaths of three.
Reports detail fatal druggings at nursing facility

They were supposed to care for their patients. But instead a doctor, nurse and pharmacist are under arrest, accused of over-medicating Alzheimer's patients to make their jobs easier.
Hospital officials speak about employees' arrest

Psychotropic drugs were used to control residents who didn't need them at a Kern Valley Healthcare District center, complaint alleges. Three people died.
3 arrested in nursing home deaths in Lake Isabella

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good. I hope they get sent up for life!

Anonymous said...

Drugging into silence is a common practice of nursing homes. The next step, of course, is over drugging.

I hope this horrible event at least brings focus to this important issue.

Anonymous said...

Another thing this article shows is that it was a two year investigation.

We want action and we want it immediately -- but we should remember that sometimes, things take a while and an appearance of inaction doesn't always mean no action.