“I’d never give any kind of consent for any of that,” says Martin Bowman, Bruce’s son and legal guardian, to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Martin approved all his father’s medication but said he was never told that the drug given to control his father’s agitation and physical aggression could kill him. In clinical trials, patients who died while taking Risperdal suffered from cardiovascular or infectious complications. Other side effects include vomiting, weight loss and muscle stiffness.

Risperdal is approved by the FDA to treat people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism with irritability. In 2005, the FDA issued the black box warning about the possible death in patients with dementia. A public investigator found that the nursing home was using consent forms that were seven years old, and thus didn’t show the black box warning.

Bruce died at the Taylor Park Nursing Home on June 19. His family says they visited him weekly and noticed he had started to deteriorate. They questioned nursing home aides who provided no answers. It was Bruce’s ex-wife, a former registered nurse, who discovered the medication Bruce was taking had a black box warning. The state Bureau of Nursing Home Resident Care investigated the home and found no violations of federal regulations by administering the drug.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family says nursing home didn’t reveal black box warning

Nursing homes receive higher reimbursements for some medical conditions. The suit alleges that by admitting residents with these conditions the homes were taking advantage of higher profits without regard to whether sufficient care could be provided.

According to the news story, the lawsuit seeks restitution of up to 40 percent of fees paid by private-pay residents, a change in some policies, and a court-appointed monitor to oversee compliance.

Extendicare has eight facilities in Minnesota, some of which have been consistently cited by state inspectors for violations far above the state’s average.

The lawsuit was filed by Laura Bernstein, a resident of one of the homes, on behalf of about 1,400 residents from other homes. Named in the lawsuit are Texas Terrace, Golden Valley Rehabilitation and Care Center, Health & Rehabilitation Center of New Brighton, Richfield Health Center, Robbinsdale Rehabilitation and Care Center, Rose of Sharon Manor in Roseville, Park Health and Rehabilitation Center in St. Louis Park and Galtier Health Center in St. Paul. Two facilities that have since been closed also are named in the suit – Lexington Health & Rehabilitation Center in St. Paul and Whittier Health Center in Minneapolis.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › 1,400 nursing home residents sue Minnesota chain