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Medication Mistakes and Overuse Rampant in Nursing Homes

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Everyone becomes physically weaker with age and some people lose the mental abilities they once had.

In addition, medical and behavioral issues leave aging loved ones vulnerable. Often a family has no choice but to place their loved one in a nursing home, where he or she can receive much-needed professional care. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and neglect is on the rise.

A lesser known form of nursing home abuse takes place when poorly trained or negligent staff members give patients the wrong type or wrong dose of medication. In some cases, doctors accidentally or purposefully prescribe medication developed to treat symptoms or conditions other than those that they are trying to control. In extreme cases, doctors use medication to control difficult or violent patients that suffer from dementia by using a “chemical straitjacket,” thereby using unneeded medicine to keep patients obedient and easier to control.

How common is the misuse of medication in nursing homes?

A report from the office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services published in May 2011, Medicare Atypical Antipsychotic Drug Claims for Elderly Nursing Home Residents, found that:  (more…)

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Government Cutbacks Handicap the Disabled Community

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Motor skills and coordination determine a person’s ability to engage in common daily behaviors such as walking, feeding themselves and even communicating. People face motor coordination disabilities from many causes, including genetic issues, disease or a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Damage to motor neurons decreases the ability to move muscles with precision, making it difficult to travel from one place to the next, whether walking, driving or using public transportation. Some people are confined to wheelchairs and must navigate stairs, sidewalks and steps, creating major obstacles to the mobility that most take for granted.

Limited Access Becomes Disabling

While those with motor coordination problems can overcome the disability through adaptation, they cannot do it alone. Municipalities must make accommodations that allow these patients to navigate the world. When governments and businesses fail to offer handicap access, they become the cause of the disability. It only takes a few small changes to make areas accessible to everyone, handicapped and able bodied alike.

Anyone taking a train will soon realize that not all of them have elevators, or have doors wide enough to permit a wheelchair to enter. (more…)

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Youth and Pro Sports: Baseline Test Lessens Concussion Injury

Monday, March 26th, 2012

Concussions have often appeared in the news recently, because failure to treat them can have devastating consequences. Concussions, like any other traumatic brain injury, need appropriate evaluation and treatment. No longer considered a minor bump resulting in only a skipped game or a brief rest to cure, sports concussions are now taken seriously by coaches and health care professionals.

Concussions: The Invisible Injury

Because the extent of damage is difficult to see and evaluate, concussions are called invisible injuries. Medical experts are deeply concerned about poorly managed concussions, because research shows that concussions can cause serious damage. We are just beginning to understand how dangerous concussions can be. According to Dr. Mark Lovell, interviewed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “The brain runs things. We do not understand it as well as other organs in the body because it is so complicated. We’re learning by leaps and bounds, yet almost everything we know about concussions we’ve learned in the last five to 10 years.”

A Way to Measure the Damage

New treatments and tests are increasing our store of knowledge. Dr. Lovell co-created and developed ImPACT (Immediate Post-concussion and Cognitive Testing) at the University of Pittsburgh. (more…)

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Cerebral Palsy Victims Forced into Poverty

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

Most people work hard to save up for retirement. Retirees dream of owning a home, perhaps on a beach or farm, where they can live a peaceful existing on the money they earned during their working years. Some retirees are being denied that dream, despite hard work and honest dedication. Through no fault of their own, after struggling with hardships that most workers never experience, retirees with cerebral palsy (CP) are finding their hard work thrown away, just shy of realizing their dreams.

CP Hardships

According to CBS Minnesota, Charles Van Heuveln, a recipient of benefits through Minnesota’s incentive program, will soon be forced into retirement so that he can continue to receive the care he needs

. Once he turns 65, he will no longer be eligible for benefits unless his income falls below the poverty threshold. If he wants help paying for his medical expenses, he will have to quit his job. Otherwise, he will be forced to spend his life savings on medical care and spend his retirement in poverty.

People with CP face a life of hardship, and Mr. Van Heaven’s situation is not unique. Such situations illustrate the need for those who suffer CP due to the fault of another to seek compensation for their injuries. Doing so protects them from the poverty that accompanies this costly disorder. (more…)

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Toning Shoes – Healthy for You or a Health Hazard?

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

Manufacturers of toning shoes advertise that wearing their shoes will result in weight loss and toning of the wearer’s legs and lower torso. Despite the lack of any proof for their claims, the shoemakers charge extremely high prices for the shoes. Eventually, these companies faced an investigation and fines from the FTC for false advertising claims. They may also face defective product lawsuits from those injured by wearing the much-hyped footwear.

AOL’s Daily Finance reported on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) investigation and September 2011 mandate that Reebok, maker of toning athletic shoes, reimburse customers $25 million to compensate for their false fitness claims. A Los Angeles Times article supported the FTC’s findings, citing a report from the American Council on Exercise. The council determined that Skechers Shape-ups, Reebok EasyTone and Masai Barefoot Technology shoes offered no additional benefit above normal walking or running shoes for weight loss or toning.

Hurtful Instead of Healthy

Not only have the fitness claims been proven to be inflated and false, toning shoes have been linked to a wide variety of injuries. (more…)

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